"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"

The quote is from a wartime speech made by the British prime minister Winston Churchill on 20 August 1940. It is an iconic quote and usually accompanied by the usual iconic image of a Spitfire, the fighter machine that was flown by the few that we owe so much to. In reality it was the numbers of the cheaper Hawker Hurricane that was the backbone of the RAF in 1939/1940 and in the Battle of Britain in that fateful summer. But the Supermarine Spitfire was a class aircraft on it's own, only problem was we couldn't build them fast enough. The Spitfire aircraft also had an achilles heel in that it was a carburettor design on its powerful Rolls Royce Merlin (PV-12) V-12 piston aero-engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Take the aircraft into the wrong G - force or steep dive and the power spluttered, but it was a miracle in manoeuvrability and could out-turn almost anything, but mostly Bf-109's. Although mostly related to the earlier World War ll battles the Spitfire was actually more effective later in the war with the later Mk IX's over the most built V's (6,487) and it was by then a far more formidable weapon and more so as high-speed photo-reconnaissance aircraft. But it was still that higher victory-to-loss ratio in the Battle of Britain that sealed the aircraft's legendary status.

This is the second aircraft from Flying Iron after their after the Republic P-47N Thunderbolt, which in my eyes was the most ugliest aircraft to ever fly. This Spitfire is also the second Spitfire for X-Plane after the RW Design's version but that was a Mark l and released three years ago for X-Plane10.

X-Plane design and detail has come a long way in three years. And FlyingIron are a very highly skilled development studio.

I have seen enough Spitfires in my time to know when it is detailed correctly (yes I have sat in one as well). And the FlyingIron version is very good. The newer X-Plane PBR effects certainly help, but the NML files are really well done (NML is the effect of raising areas of the modeling or bumps, say here the rivets) and the rivets and ribs are done with precision and so are the construction panels of the aircraft...

... the modeling of the surfaces are also excellent, the wings and tailplane shapes are perfect as is the ribbed rudder construction. Glass is the deal breaker, but glass today is usually now always very good. But still getting it right can be the difference between good and really great... Thankfully here is it is perfect.

The undercarriage on the Spitfire is quite basic, Early models (prior to the 175th production aircraft) actually had no hydraulic gear extension system, and were pumped up with a lever, later versions had a pump driven by the engine. So don't expect huge detail here, but it is still good, with the correct in wheel housing wing ribs showing, as is the protruding oil cooler and the supercharger-intercooler radiators (the radiators on both wings note it is a later version).

The bubble acrylic canopy that was a new material at the start of WW2 replaced the earlier heavier glass canopies, but acrylic was perfect for a fighter. There are a few scratches on the top of the bubble for realism, but the great detail is the finger/hand marks on the rear left window, that you touch to get into the aircraft is a nice touch of detail. The bubble's convex is perfect upwards and outwards for realism, the new rain effects (librain) work on the glass surfaces also...

... the front hardened glass is well done as well, with the clearer gunsight area laid out in the box centre, which is a nice detail.

Open the canopy and drop the little left door to see inside, and this is what I call the "classic airshow view", you can look in to the cockpit but don't touch...

... I have as mentioned sat in a Spit, so the view and detail is very authentic here, it is quite tight and confined when in there.

The first thoughts on the detail is the excellent use of the brass and copper piping within the cockpit... a clever detail, because for one it shows you the age of the aircraft, but also gives the cockpit a very authentic feel than the usual painted piping.

The detail of the pipe routing is excellent and mostly here for the gear, with the correct clips and holders to place the piping perfectly. The "Emergency" red lever is a powered CO2 cylinder backup for the undercarriage. Wiring is really well done and flexible where required (move the throttle to see great movement).

The famous Spitfire stick is also well done in detail. (Note again the wiring to the trigger button) and here it is not the usual red button, but a realistic push trigger.

Stick animation is excellent, and highly realistic... you can see it was created for the confines of the cockpit and to bend around the pilot's legs.

Instrument panel

Close up the instrument layout is actually quite basic. The Standard six are centre mounted on a separate plate on or above the main panel. These instrument include L to R top row; IAS Gauge (MPH) - Artificial Horizon - Climb (Descent) Rate, Lower row; Barometric Altitude - Magnetic Compass - Turn & Slip Indicator (The slip and turn indicators are really well recreated and is RAF period authentic)

Left (Port) panel levers and controls cover top (the box) Radio System, Mixture Control Lever (red handle), Throttle, AirScrew Control (Propeller). Rear... Elevator Trim Wheel and Rudder Trim bias, Radflap (Radiator Control), Pitot Heat, Fuel Booster Pump and the Carburettor air filter control (Shut lever to keep out the dust on the ground).

Right (Starboard) panel top has the famous Wobble Pump for priming the Engine, Undercarriage Control Lever, Oxygen Flow Control Valve and the already mentioned CO2 cylinder for the gear release. There is also a windscreen De-Icing system.

Like most cockpit layouts it looks initially complicated, but by using the instruments and knobs and levers it soon becomes familiar as it is quite a simply layout.

Menu

Touch the right side mid-panel and you get a pop-up menu panel. Created for VR (Virtual Reality) in mind it is really well intergrated into the feel of the aircraft... it is called the "VR/GUI box", fancy!

The main radio set is set out here to dial in the frequencies, the A,B,C,D buttons are the set choices and you can switch to these frequencies via the "Radio" box on the left side of the instrument panel in the same A,B,C,D selection. Volume knob is below. Other menu selections cover (Most are toggle switches): Static Elements (Chocks and Tiedown) and a period Ground Power Unit (GPU).

GPS (Garmin 530) can be used set under the panel, the default pop-out can be seen, but I had window within window issues in keeping it on screen?

You have the option of having the RAF Reflector Sight attached or not... Beautifully recreated this is the standard Mk IID Gyro reflector gunsight.

Gunsight switch and brightness knob is below left under the gunsight...

.... fully adjustable, FlyingIron notes the gunsight still needs more development in the cross-hair areas.

There is an external fuel tank (90 Gallons) but not set out under the wings but directly under the belly of the aircraft...

... the tank switch is buried on the floor right of the pilot's seat.

Other items include Batteries (note the real Spitfire has no battery or electrical controls in the cockpit - as in real life the batteries were connected to the terminal on the ground by the ground-crew). Optional Landing Light for Night-Operations. And a Toggle AP that sets the aircraft straight and wings level... in other words you fly in a straight line and at the same altitude for as long as you would want to... or until the fuel runs out.

You can switch between the Merlin 66 & Merlin 70 Engine (essentially converting your Spitfire from a LF - Low altitude fighter to a HF - High altitude fighter version series engine with two-stage, two-speed superchargers and vice versa). And the difference of a two-stage, two-speed supercharger is actively simulated here when selected. One button is still in development with the Radio for the Transponder.

The Spitfire comes in four versions... the standard above in both Merlin 66 and 70 versions and the clipped wing versions of Merlin 66 and 70.

There are actually five different Spitfire wing types in, Type A, B, C, D and E wings but mostly it was to accommodate the different in wing armament designs, the "clipped" version was created to take on the speed of the Bf-109 as part of the the above LF (low altitude) package, so sometimes they are called "LF's". At 10,000ft the clipped-wing Spitfire proved the faster by a small margin of about 5 mph. But above 15.000ft the speeds were about the same, however at all level speed runs the clipped-wing Spitfire accelerated faster than the standard Spitfire.

Flying the Spitfire

First is to note that the Flying Iron Spitfire uses a lot of custom commands, and mostly on your keyboard, so you will have to set them all up and save them as customized for the aircraft. So a lot of your standard X-Plane default commands don't work or will be replaced with the custom versions. I personally don't like this because my keyboard is set up a certain way for continuity, and changing things around to suit the developer can cause confusion of where is set where.

I also took me ages (before the manual was updated) to even release the parking brakes, even now they are hard to use but workable. They are set up for the rudder pedal toe pressures. And there is two custom commands in one (the main one) "Wheel Brakes" and the other is the "Parking Brake" in the custom setting and you do not use the default X-Plane braking setting. It works like this... Press the "Parking Brake" key to release the brakes (it is the handle behind the grip on the stick) and then use the "Wheel Brakes" key to brake the aircraft, to reapply the parking brake then use the "Wheel Brakes" keys to get to full brake hold... and then press the "Parking Brake" again to hold it parked (or lock it). Set up correctly on the joystick made it easier to use, than the keyboard. and a lot of the custom commands are like this.

Another X-Plane command is essential and that is the "Toggle_Tailwheel Lock", into lock off or the release of the tailwheel. Only the real Pro's can taxi a taildragger like this, for the rest of us we have to sort of cheat.

Starting the Spit

This is a cantankerous pre-WW2 aircraft, so starting it can be easy if your luck holds or drive you insane. Reading the manual (printing it out helps) in the start sequence. But it goes like this:

First turn the Battery/GPU . (power) on, both are on the VR/GUI... Then you move the throttle until the Indicator switch comes on, the red "Fuel Pressure" light right panel and the "DOWN" light also illuminates, then Prop Control full-forward (Below the throttle). Then the mixture lever to full idle (the red topped lever).

Then the "Carb Air Filter" lever to closed (Forward, arrowed below left). Fuel Tanks and Fuel Cock to ON lower panel.... as there is no electrical circuits the fuel gauge doesn't actually work, to see your fuel capacity then press the button by the gauge (upper red arrow).

Throttle to ½ open position, then press the "Booster Pump" switch under the Trim Wheel (FlyingIron recommend to use a key input for the booster switch)... you can use the "wobble" pump if you want to have your jollies, and either will prime the fuel until the red "Fuel Pressure" light goes out.

Primer is hard to find as it is not noted in the manual or looks like the usual pull out knob, but it is a large turn knob right panel (arrowed above) turns required are noted in the manual for the various conditions.

Flip up the two Starter Coil/Booster Coil Safety Covers to expose the "Booster Coil and Starter Coil" buttons... Mixture now to full forward (the red top lever by the throttle) and finally turn on the two magneto switches far, far left panel.

To start you have to press the two Booster Coil/Starter Coil buttons together, which is impossible with a single mouse input, so your only option is to a set a key input on the booster coil button via the key selections then press both buttons both via the mouse and key at the same time...

And whammo! the Merlin should then fire into life!...

Note the excellent particle effects coming out of the engine exhausts, they do however get quite flaming bright in flight. If the engine flames out then that effect is simulated.

Clean up the aircraft by hiding the GPU (Starter) and controlling the warm up of the engine to finding a good idle without stalling the hard won power.

Taxiing

Using the brakes is first letting off the parking brake via your set "Parking Brake" custom key, then reapplying brake pressure via your other "Wheel Brakes" custom key or in my case the park trigger button on my joystick... you know the brakes are released by the loss of pressure on the left lower panel pressure gauge.

If you have it set right when you press your "Wheel Brakes" key/trigger the brake pressure should go up again, to lock (or park) then as noted you press the "Parking Brake" key again... got it.

Taxiing is an art in the Spitfire like all taildraggers, a bit of flipping the (toggling) caster wheel on the tail to stiff (set on my joystick pinky lever) and holding the brakes in a way to control direction with the rudder, you learn to use the throttle with the brakes on to turn in mostly to the left, then another throttle position to swing to the right, again while holding or releasing the brakes... and to hold your position to go straight you toggle the tailwheel stiff straight and hard right or left rudder to keep it fine tune straight.. tricky yes but doable with practise. The hard part is slowing down... hit the wheels or brakes too hard and you go nose over?

Flying

A well known trick for taking off in the Spitfire is to give the trim a bit of nose down, you have to find out the best setting for this trim to get the balance right as you lose the tailwheel off the ground and then get the airflow over the aerodynamic surfaces as it levels out the aircraft in pitch.

Brakes off and power on, but feed in the throttle very slowly to keep a straight line (tailwheel locked) and use the rudder for small corrections...

.... once the tail rises you can see forward, but the view sideways does help in keeping the line straighter. Use your rudder to control, and feel the airflow as it strengthens to keep it aligned straight.

Spitfires love to bump or bounce on the ground when they reach flying speed, so a slight pull back on the stick when this movement starts with around

100 knts or 60 MPH and your finally flying... a Spitfire!

The Spitfire will easily climb out at 2000 fpm while gaining speed, max climb is 2,150 ft/min at 10,000 ft (3,000 m), even so you feel 2000 fpm is no sweat or drag on the aircraft. Bang up the gear lever and hear the pressured air working away in the background. Climbing or building speed is not over using the throttle, just gradually move it forward until the aircraft feels happy, the throttle hard to the wall does not apply here.

Supercharger control is all automatic, unless to turn it to manual, which isn't really needed, and move the throttle to see the supercharger working, the power rises... then the POWER rises as it kicks in (note the two-stage, two-speed kick), but don't over do it on the full on power setting unless you want serious engine troubles.

Pilot is animated, but only to head turns, but the Tom Hardy looks good if you want to do a Dunkirk.

Guns have to be armed (Master Arm Toggle), which is again another key setting, but your joystick standard "Fire" trigger will do the firing.

This aircraft must use the drum-fed Hispano HS.404 cannons in each wing, as the installation here has the required large blisters on the wing to cover the 60-round drums. You can carry bombs as well and the Mk 82 series unguided bombs is the required armament specified by FlyingIron.

The Spitfire has a top speed of 370 mph (322 kts 595 km/h), and a combat radius of 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km)). With the external tank the ferry range or the photo-reconnaissance version could cover 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km)). The RR Merlin 66 puts out 1,720 hp (1,283 kW) at 5,790 ft (1,765 m) using +18 psi boost and the RR Merlin 70 was 1,233 hp (920 kW) at 35,000 ft (10,668 m);and fitted with the noted two-speed, two-stage supercharger and a Bendix-Stromberg carburettor.

Trim the Spitfire up and it will sit there all day on a pedestal, lovely to fly (It is one of the most renowned aircraft to fly) in balance and feel, turns are majestic, but watch you don't rub off altitude, so any banks need to be focused and controlled, with using the throttle with turns can smooth out the pitches. When aligned in balance then turn on the AP via the VR/GUI box (you can set another key input)... Sounds are all FMOD Sound Design with 50+ custom Sounds and you notice the dynamic multi-sounds that increase immersion and avoid that recognisable repetition chanting. The odd thing about the sounds in the Spit is that they are just so good, as you just feel them in the background than go searching for them, they blend more than stand out... perfect.

The Spitfire will then stay perfectly aligned and level as long as you want it to, move the stick left or right and the aircraft will turn and bank cleanly for ease of flying and direction changing... then when ready centre the stick and the aircraft will simply resume its perfect straight course. Remember to re-trim if you disconnect the AP back to manual flying.

Lighting

The lighting is pretty basic, but this a WW2 fighter, not an airbus flightdeck. Two adjustable side mounted lights light up the panel... and quite nicely too.

Externally FlyingIron provide a single landing light to compliment the red, green and single rear light navigation lights. Overall though you could see yourself flying home late at night from a Photo-Recon mission with your head down in the cockpit with the lighting.

These wartime fighter aircraft are extremely hard to land like the Mustang and the Thunderbolt, and I expected the Spitfire to be another sweaty, tense, focused, grip the joystick death like sort of approach and landing. In fact the Spit was quite good, even nice to control and land. FlyingIron recommend to pitch up to lose speed and not to drop off the speed by keeping the throttle in a power band place. I agree with that, but it is easy to balance the Spitfire around the 100 MPH - 120 MPH band.

FlyingIron recommend to drop the flap (Only full flap - barn door effect) on the final approach, but I found I could slow the Spitfire to just under 100 MPH and the slow to 80 MPH with ease, and the aircraft was very stable and easy to fly, with just the throttle inputs to keep the aircraft under control.

A nice detail was when the flaps are down you get a small flap open on the top of the wing with the flap arms showing to note visually they are in the extended position.... Nice and authentic

So the approach even with a gusty cross-wind was quite nice and easy.. so I loosened my grip a little and relaxed...

The wind was creating a little full rudder sometimes (a known Spitfire quirk as it had a weak rudder), but the Spit was falling down to the runway with ease... slightly slower...

... slightly off the throttle and I was down. I'm not saying it was easy, easy as it all still required skills to control the aircraft keep it aligned, but it certainly was not that heart in your mouth and fear effect that usually comes with these fighters on landing. Stall is 74 MPH (65 kts) with the flaps extended and 87 MPH with the flaps up

Certainly don't touch the brakes until the speed is quite slow unless you want to roll nose over nose and destroy the propeller and engine, certainly a grass landing would be better for running off the excess speed than the hard runway.

Like any aircraft of this era and being a taildragger, the more you practice and the more you sort of set up the aircraft around you, then the experience will rise and the enjoyment escalates. There is a certain amount of dedication and skill required to fly these aircraft as they are not a jump in fly cessna or piper GA.

Liveries

There are ten liveries from the World War era and many are for forces internationally. You expected more than two to represent the RAF (DU-N and Dorothy) as there was some very famous squadrons, RAF Memorial Flight and Burma campaign squadron, but otherwise they are all well done.

Summary

The Supermarine Spitfire is one of the most iconic, most instantly recognisable aircraft in the history of aviation. Historic and beloved by everyone the aircraft is always a worthy addition to any simulator... I mean who does not want to fly a Spitfire, to know what it was like to be one of the few and see and feel the aircraft from the inside out.

So does the FlyingIron Spitfire version live up to the aircraft's distinguished career and iconic status. Well yes it does and does it very well. It is beautifully modeled and designed aircraft and it is full of lovely touches that bring the aircraft above the normal in what you would expect in authenticity of the era and the aircraft. I really liked the brass and copper piping and the glass and all fine detailing is excellent. Mod-cons include a GPS and basic Autopilot, but you don't have to use them if you don't want to. four variants include both 66 and 70 RR Merlin engines and standard and clipped wing versions, sounds are also first rate and very immersive.

The Spitfire flies nicely as well, and it feels like the experience that you would expect from a WW ll aircraft, without the extremes of handling and the sheer terror that sometimes you get with these old fighters, that is not to say it is fighter-lite to fly, in fact it is the opposite as skill is certainly required to understand and fly the aircraft and taxiing is a still an art to do correctly, remember the Spitfire was a great aircraft to fly in reality.

The aircraft is created around VR (Virtual Reality) and so is the nicely done VR menu box, so the VR experience would be excellent.

Most niggles here are not actually related to the aircraft. There are a few areas still not completed like with the transponder and a few other areas were not covered on release (Skunkcraft updater is included), the manual was not completed on release and this review was held back weeks after the release to find (wait) for the details required, there are still large blanks in the manual (Primer pump knob?) and manuals are essential for these era aircraft and novice flyers. What is there however is very good (another release before ready syndrome). There are a lot of custom settings that will ruin any set defined keyboard arrangement, and then try to remember where you set them all in the moving simulation? I lost track... I understand why the braking system was done the way it is, but it is tricky to set up... I now have to put my normal keyboard commands all back to right again and reset everything.

The last of the "Few" died only a few months ago, so they are all now gone into history with their bravery. I personally think if any of them had flown this FlyingIron version of their machine, I think they would have been quite overjoyed at the recreation of their past, even highly related to the aircraft and I don't think any accolade could be higher than that... it is a worthy simulation of a very distinguished part of our history. Highly Recommended.

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The Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXc by FlyingIron is NOW available! from theX-Plane.Org Store here :

The AV-8A/B version of the Harrier is in essence a version Mk ll of the famous and highly versatile British Hawker Siddeley "Jump Jet". The Jump Jet story starts with the Hawker P.1127 and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1. Both are the experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) jet fighter-bomber. The P.1127 development began in 1957, in taking advantage of the Bristol Engine Company's choice to invest in the creation of the Rolls Royce Pegasus vectored-thrust engine. Tethered testing began in July 1960 and by the end of the year the aircraft had achieved both vertical take-off and horizontal flight. It was not an easy program with the first three aircraft crashed during testing, and one aircraft was lost at the 1963 Paris Air Show.

From the start most Air Forces didn't want the slow sub-sonic Jump Jet. Their eyes and money was always on the fast jets or supersonic target delivery. The Hawker Siddeley team created the P.1154 for the supersonic requirement as the design used a single Bristol Siddeley BS100 engine with four swivelling nozzles, but the NATO requirement was cancelled shortly after in 1965, along with that other great British hope the BAC-TSR-2.

RAF however began considering a simple upgrade of the existing subsonic Kestrel and issued Requirement ASR 384 for a V/STOL ground attack jet. Hawker Siddeley received an order for six pre-production aircraft in 1965, designated P.1127 (RAF), of which the first made its maiden flight on 31 August 1966. An order for 60 production aircraft, designated as Harrier GR.1 was received in early 1967. The aircraft was named after the Harrier, a small bird of prey. The Harrier GR.1 made its first flight on 28 December 1967. It officially entered service with the RAF on 18 April 1969.

Almost immediately into service the RAF Harrier made the headlines! The aircraft won the The Daily Mail Trans-Atlantic Air Race which was a race between London, UK and New York City, USA to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the first trans-atlantic crossing by John Alcock and Arthur Brown. The race was held between 4 and 11 May 1969. The 50th anniversary of the race is right now.

The race was actually a race of individuals between the Post Office Tower in London to the Empire State Building in New York. Each of the individuals or "Runners" had to use some form of air transport. With a number of different categories a total of 21 prizes could be won. A number of point-to-point world records for aircraft were broken.

The shortest overall time between London and New York was by Squadron Leader Tom Lecky-Thompson flying a Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Harrier in 6 hours 11 minutes . The Harrier used a coal yard next to St Pancras station in London and landed on the quayside of the Bristol Basin in New York. the GR1 aircraft was refuelled 11 times in flight to achieve the record. A great video of the event and the restoration of the aircraft XV471is here: Forces Network.

A variant for the UK Royal Navy (RN) was the Sea Harrier, but the aircraft was not capable of taking off with a full armament and fuel load from the ship's deck vertically, the solution was the Ski-Ramp that allowed the Harrier to achieve almost forward flight and with a big payload as well.

The flexibility of the Harrier led to a long-term heavy deployment in West Germany as a conventional deterrent and potential strike weapon against Soviet aggression; flown from camouflaged rough bases the aircraft's ability to just appear and disappear but still deliver a capable strike was very effective.

Every aircraft is known for a certain theatre of war, for the Harrier it was the Falklands War in 1982. The South Atlantic distance of the conflict rendered the supersonic prime force to be almost grounded, until an airfield on the Islands could be secured, in fact the Harrier's exceptional low speed capablites were far more effective even against the Mirage lll than the usual theatre tactics with shoot over the horizon armaments, Both Sea Harriers FRS.1 and GR3's were both active in the war. Further exercises trained pilots to use the vectoring-in-forward-flight (VIFF) capability to out-manoeuvre their opponents and showed that the Harriers could act as effective air-to-air fighters at close range and against far faster aircraft.

The AV-8A was really a duplicate of the RAF version GR1/3, but the U.S. Marine Corps wanted a bigger and faster version of the aircraft. As the British government refused any more financial commitment, then McDonnell Douglas with an order of 12 originally then a full order of 324 aircraft decided to do the upgrade program themselves. The new AV-8B Harrier ll had new wings, revised intakes, redesigned exhaust nozzles, and other aerodynamic changes with a supercritical wing, hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) control principle, and increased engineered lateral stability make the aircraft fundamentally easier to fly. Hawker Siddeley or BAe Systems worked with McDonnell Douglas on the development of the Mk ll upgraded aircraft.

The modified forward fuselage and cockpit found on all subsequent aircraft were not incorporated on these earlier prototypes which were designated YAV-8B, the first converted AV-8B aircraft flew on 9 November 1978, the British Government then reversed their original commitment to build the RAF version of the AV-8B with the GR5 which was the RAF's first second-generation Harrier. The GR5 differed from the USMC AV-8B in avionics fit, weapons and countermeasures, and forty one GR5s were built and saw action in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Harrier was also flown by the Spanish Navy, Thai Navy, Royal Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps.

X-Trident Harrier AV-8B

This aircraft for X-Plane11 was originally released late December 2018, but was noted as "still in development". X-PlaneReviews obviously looked at the aircraft and development, and decided that it was all very nice but overall the aircraft still required some significant development to be noted as a release version. X-Trident noted that the development would be finished early in 2019. But the reality was (and we knew this) was that the 11.30 beta from X-Plane was going to take far longer than expected. Only by early March 2019 was the full complete release version was issued as v1.1 and is as reviewed here.

X-Trident are no stranger to military jets as their last project was the excellent aircraft Panavia Tornado GR4 of which X-PlaneReviews really liked. So much was expected here. Note on the Pavavia Tornado GR4 in that X-Trident have also updated the aircraft to the current same 11.30 specifications (v3.0).

The Tornado was released over two and a half years ago, so the Harrier has had a long development process, X-Plane itself as a simulator has also had a few reincarnations since then as well. So you are really expecting a lot, and on a first view you are not certainly disappointed. I have lived with Harriers my whole life, from my childhood to their retirement in March 2011, the AV-8B is still however in US Marine service, but will soon be replaced by the F35.

There are a few Harriers in Museums, I saw a few at Duxford UK, where it was quite hard to see into the aircraft (GR.3 XZ133) as it is suspended? but the Pegasus engine is very accessible. There is another GR.3 XZ997 at RAF Museum, Hendon. The Tribute XZ133 livery of the Duxford aircraft is used in this review.

There is also a rare P.1127 XP980 (fitted with a Harrier GR.1 wing) which is on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, England.

Detail on the Tornado was exceptional, but it feels now slightly dated in a sort of X-Plane10 way, externally it still delivers, but the cockpit in areas shows it's age. Not so with the Harrier... as this aircraft is simply the top gun of the current game, and the opposition is also very strong like with the Just Flight Hawk T.1. The thing is with the JF Hawk is that it lifted the notch up not only a few bars but a lot of bars in the fighter category, so this Harrier design is a worthy comparision....

... but the Harrier here does easily match the Hawk in most and even every area. Undercarriage detail is excellent and all is highly animated, this factor is more important here as the aircraft is a vertical takeoff/landing machine, so the gear extension and retraction not in only in stowage, but the physical vertical movements has to be correct. Intimate detail is of course exceptional with lovely hydraulic cabling/piping and even the gear notices that are all perfect.

More highlights includes the weapon tracks, which are highly detail, and not just a texture image... under fuselage airbrake and so are the numerous of opening air vents that are required for the vertical flight.

For me the significant area was the flight "puffer" small reaction nozzles that are the most important and the most ingenious aspect of the Harrier. It is actually quite easy to support any aircraft on a downward thrust of gases, and even here with the clever engine mounted vector nozzles... the real trick was in actually controlling the aircraft in the air. The Harrier has a unique system of engine bleed that directs air to the various reaction nozzles...

.... two with one under the nose and one under the appendage at the rear controls "Pitch". There are two outlets on the wingtip (that is why the support wheels are inboard) with one outlet on the the top and another below the wing edge...

... these two outlets control "Roll" and the final two outlets are again on the rear appendage but this time on the sides...

.... and these outlets control "Yaw". The development not of the thrust factor, but in controlling the nozzle aspect was the really big headache of the time (besides the early underpowered Pegesus engines), but once sorted the system created a landmark in aviation controllable flight. This is all powered by the later Rolls-Royce Pegasus F402-RR-408 (Mk 107) vectored-thrust turbofan at 23,500 lbf (105 kN).

I always loved the "Snout" look of the Harrier, certainly not the look of fast jet, but the Harrier a more workman like aircraft...

... open the canopy and you can look inside. Missing are the usual external stairs that give access to the cockpit, the Harrier has a built in set of legups and steps with a drop down foot hook and two drop out foot handles that fall out of the side of the forward fuselage (arrowed)

... they are all animated with the sliding of the canopy. Canopy detailing is of course excellent, with great glass depth feel and reflections...

... note the explosive trace for in flight ejection.

Cockpit looks extremely authentic, looking also at the Tornado it is also a few levels higher in detail and quality... certainly more work has gone into this design, and it is the most impressive work from X-Trident yet.

Cockpit Detail

Sitting in the Harrier is a claustrophobic experience, that is mostly created by the extended UFC (Upfront Control Panel) upper-panel that contains the scratch pad display and keyboard, function selecting buttons and Radio Repeater controls.

Either side of the UFC are two MFD's (Multi-Function Display) that we will get to in a moment. Centre is the front panel that is the analog backup (BU) instruments of Speed indicator, Artifical Horizon, AOA (Angle of Attack), Vertical Speed and sticking out the Altimeter. The lower BU instruments can't be seen as the joystick hides them, the stick is non-hideable as well. Top right are the engine readouts. Left top is the ODU (Option Display Unit), that works with the UFC. HUD (HeadUp Display) is top glareshield. Also lower behind the joystick is the Auxiliary Controls panel that is not usually required in flight.

Left lower panel is the ACP (Armament Control Panel) which allows you to select the ordnance quantity to be released or permits you to perform

an external stores "Selective Jettison". The Flap control is here as well on the side-front console, but the flaps are also part of the Stability Augmentation System (SAS) to transition to the hover mode, so you don't actually need to use the flaps in the Harrier manually as mostly as it is an automatic setting called "Aileron Droop". the Landing Gear Lever and anti-skid is located here as well.

Right Lower panel is the Fuel Quantity Indicator with the Fuel transfer, in-flight Refuel and Fuel Dump which are controlled through the left rear side console Fuel Panel. Brake Pressure (excellent) and Accumilator are on the right side-front console. Canopy latch is above.

Fuel Quantity Indicator has three displays that indicate the quantity of available fuel, other fuel selection choices include FEED, TOT (Total), INT (Internal), WING, INBD (Inboard) and OUTBD (Outboard).

Full left side console is top to bottom with Trim the main aspect. Below is the SAAHS ((Stability Augmentation and Attitude Hold System) which is basically a sort of autopilot, (which we will show in action later). The throttle and nozzle vector lever (see below), Fuel (Pump and Dump), EXT (External) Lighting panel and rear the Oxygen panel, far rear is the Fuel "Shut Off" lever...

Full left side console is top to bottom is first the ELEC (Electrical Panel) including the APU start. VHF Radio is pure military. There are two radios which can independently be used in Manual mode, Pre-Set mode or Guard Mode. Radios are usually called COMM1 and COMM2 and are managed through the radio panel and UFC.

Set below the Radio is the ACNIP (Auxiliary communication, navigation, identification panel). The ACNIP panel allows to monitor and control some navigation and communication functions. Included is the IFF status, Emergency Code, IFF ZERO, IDENT Squawk Ident and FL and CH display respectively the amount of Flares and Chaffs still available.

Rear right console is the INTR (Internal) Lighting, ECS (Cockpit Environmental Control System) on the rear wall (right of the ejector seat) is a nice isolation box, it doesn't actually work, but it is very nice detail.

There are Warning, Caution and Advisory lights that illuminate to warn about a failure or a dangerous situation. Main panel is right lower and "WARNING" / "CAUTION" lights around the UFC panel. All are highly effective and come with the aural alerts that will make you simply jump out of your flying suit.

Throttle is totally authentic with two gate locks, one is for the engine CUT-OFF lock and the other is for IDLE lock.

The Harrier has another control lever for Vectoring the Nozzles, the settings are 0º for full forward flight to 83º for full downward thrust, 100º can give you a slight rearward thrust. You can use a locking pin to set the full 83º or any other degree positions to protect you from changing the angle to the wrong degree position, and it works extremely well in an eyes forward situation.

One area I had issues with on the pre-release of the X-Trident Harrier was using my Saitek X-56 throttle twin throttle as both the main throttle (left lever) and the Vectoring lever (right lever), as there was no actual X-Plane setting you could use for the vectoring? That is changed in the v1.1 release version with the use of the X-Plane command "Thrust Vector" and it now works perfectly. You can of course still use the key commands "Vector or Sweep Aft" and "Vector or Sweep forward" to move the vector lever forwards or backwards.

MFD (Multi-Function Display)

There are two MFD's (Multi-Function Display). and both can be set for a certain display function. There is a pop-out window, but only one, so you can't have both MFD's popped out at the same time... which is odd and no help for self made cockpit users.

Pressing MENU on either screen will bring up the main menu. The commands are set across the top for the main types of screens and aircraft commands are on the bottom. Top row commands are MAP, NAV, TMR, FLIR and WORLD, lower commands are COMMANDS, EMER and MISSION.

My main flight/mission setup is the NAV on the right and the MAP on the left. TMR (left-right image)) is the "Terrain Mapping Radar" which generates a synthetic image of the ground in front of the Aircraft; Radar antenna is tilted 0.15° down to display also obstacles slightly below the flight level. NAV selections include: APT, VOR, TCN, VORTAC and TGT (Target) of which you can set by putting in an "Ground Objects" of which you can set three targets.

FLIR - FLIR camera returns a synthetic image generated by Infrared Camera, and the HUD symbology can be superimposed by selecting the HUD option. With the NAV on the right MFD then the FLIR with HUD option on, it is a very effective heads down flying situation.

Using both MAPS and WORLD you get two perspectives of your position in local and global positions. You can insert your own mapping images in an "MAP_FOLDER" but you are also required to set out the map format (syntax) so it is animated in the MFD, image sizes are 4098x2632 px.

COMMANDS are used to set the SAAHS (AFC) on/off, so you can turn the SAAHS on to create a controlled flight (autopilot) or use the ALT to hold an altitude...

... again an easier heads up solution to switching on/off the autopilot, and I used it all the time as the switches left lower console are hard to see, never mind use when the throttle/vector lever is forward.

MISSION has two settings in "WEAPONS" and "TARGETS"

Selecting WEAPONS gives you the current armament/fuel load on the aircraft, you can then select the weapon of your choice or SAFE the weapons. TARGETS allows you to select the target you require, and the ones that you have set up with the static objects.

RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) returns a synthtic depiction of other Radars pointing at the Aircraft. The color of the Spike shows the kind of Radar emitter, indicating whether it is recognized as Friendly, Hostile or Neutral

There is a setup feature than can give you the platform configuration that you require. There are twelve CONFIGURATIONS that you can use, but you need to set up the platform before you use the aircraft, because you have to change the actual AV8B.acf file for the configuration you require...

12 choices include:

2 x AIM120 GUN

2 x JDAM - 2 x MK83 - 2 x AIM9,

2 x JDAM - 2 x TANK - 2 x AIM9

2 x TANK - 2 x AIM120 GUN

4 x GBU12 - 2 x TANK LITENING - 2 x AIM9

4 x JDAM - 2 x TANK LITENING - 2 x AIM9

4 x JDAM - 4 x GBU LITENING - 2 x AIM9

4 x TANK - 2 x AIM120 GUN

6 x MK83 2 x TANK - 2 x AIM9

6 x MK83 - 4 x JDAM - 2 x AIM9

12 x MK83 - 2 x AIM9 GUN

CLEAN

AV-8B Menu

The AV-8B menu is located in the "Plugins Menu" on the X-Plane banner menu.

The menu is in four selections: Show MFD (pop-up), Remove Before Flight (Static Elements), Load (Flight Plan, Ground Objects and Targets) and the Configurations panel.

Remove Before Flight (Static Elements) has engine inlet covers (excellent!), wheel chocks, pitot covers, refueling probe cover, pilot hide, tags and weapon "safe" tags... all are excellent, but you can only use them all or nothing? I always like the option of using just wheel chocks and safe tags without the full monty of everything, so the static elements are a bit limited in their use.

Configurations/SmartView: Smart View is an X-Trident option which controls the POV (Point of View) on all axis to recreate the movements of the pilot’s head and gaze when maneuvering. When Smart View is active, cockpit view is no longer controllable by mouse or buttons.

Configurations/Options:

VRHUD - Focuses HUD to infinite, option can be left on also without VR.

Custom Replay - Toggle the recording of some custom variables for replay

Particles Effects - Particles Effects may considerably reduce the Frame Rate, so you can turn them off if you wish

Custom Carrier - A custom “NAVE CAVOUR” carrier is supplied with the package (we will look at the carrier later).

Nonlinear throttle - Activates a “nonlinear” throttle response, as in real AV-8, in order to have an accurate control of RPM and Thrust above 85% RPM.

AAR mode - Allows to select to levels of assisted "Air To Air Refuel"... there are three selections: Normal - Easy - AUTO

Configurations/Flight:

H20 - Shows available water for Engine Water Injection System

Flight options include a few selections that are also selectable in other areas.

Remove Before Flight - is the same as the other Menu selection

Canopy - opens and closes the canopy and drops the leg-up and drop out foot handles

In most circumstances taking off in an aircraft from an airport is to taxi to a runway and takeoff... but the Harrier is no normal aircraft, as It gives you choices with V/STOL capability. But also restrictions as you can't takeoff vertically unless the aircraft is quite light, a few sidewinders and a low fuel requirement is the the only go... the VTOL selection in the Flight/Menu will do that for you.

When you taxi you can go to any point on the runway and not the usual start, or really anywhere you have a wide flat hard space, and yes you could even use a heli pad, but your skill level would have to be quite high.

The vector setting is noted at 83º, but it is more sensitive than that, as the line between going forwards, backwards or into the straight up hover is very fine... you don't have to look down at the nozzle lever as there is a nozzle angle guide on the left of the top of the instrument panel (it is noted in the HUD as well), mostly you use only two settings in 83º and 50º for runway takeoffs.

... one way to gauge the thrust direction correctly is by the blast dust. The X-Plane11.30 particle effects are excellent here as you can see the direction of the thrust by the dust, it is easy to see the rearward or forward thrust directions, and there is also a sweet spot in the middle.

Bring in (up) the throttle and the AV-8B will start to lift, and in your throttle movements you have to be fine, slow and precise. But yes you are now sitting in the hover...

.... so the Harrier is like flying a helicopter, well yes... and no. You have sort of the same feel and adding more throttle is like more collective on a chopper...

... the trick in flying the Harrier is in the finer aspects, with the small vector nozzles. One they can be slow to react, so you have to ahead of their adjustment, but they will (in time) adjust to your stick movements, slight rolls can correct sideways movement, but the pitch is not as effective, and the yaw is also slow to react.... another aspect is the heavy upwash when you go down closer to the ground again, this can re-lift the Harrier upwards, so your natural reaction is to lower the throttle, but as in most cases if you over do that then the aircraft will simply fall out of the air as most learners do. The trick is to find that upwash barrier point and fly through it without the uplift and still be in the hover control... that aspect needs practise, but it is there...

Move slightly rear the vector nozzles and you move quickly forward, the AV-8B is quite different from a normal aircraft as the thrust is angled and you still don't have a lot of aerodynamic control, but as the speed builds then adjust the nozzles to full rear thrust... again with the thrust angle the aircraft will always climb like a banshee so you need to control the height via the throttle as much as the forward speed, the transition is not hard, but you need total control from the hover flight to normal aerodynamic flight...

... returning to the field and the transition from aerodynamic flight back to hover flight is not as hard as you think it is, and slowing down is quite easy with those huge barn door flaps doing all the work for you. The hard point is later when you feel the transfer of the heavy aircraft weight back onto the downward air thrust, helicopters have of course the same sort of weight transfer, but it is far more evident here, even excessively so.

You can use the rearward thrust to slow you down... but the thrust differences between forward, hover (more heavy) to the rearward movement (less weight thrust) can upset your approach and make you lose height, so you use it sparingly, find that up-lift barrier and control the forward and descent movement and you can rest the aircraft easily. The nozzles can also be slow moving to a new position angle so the effects are not instantaneous, again you have to anticipate the thrust change and move the nozzles before you want to do a certain manoeuvre and be almost in front the aircraft.

The easiest approach is a slight forward movement touch down... the aircraft's comfort zone is nose up about 7º and it is when you drop that pitch angle lower to land vertically that it all gets a bit loose and messy...

... so if you keep that nose up angle and come in slightly moving forward the landing is usually very relatively easy and smoother, you just slightly bump the ground and move forward a few feet until you touch the brakes, but it is far more less stressful and a noticeably smoother landing.... you will notice on the videos that most runway landings are done in this way.

Taking off full loaded then you will need both the aerodynamic lift and downward thrust. You still put the nozzles about 50º and you are surprised on how much thrust (power) you have available, you do feel the push forward, but with the slightly downward thrust as well, takeoff is around 180knts depending on the weight, but it requires skill as the Harrier is balanced centrally with only out-riggers for balance.

Don't move the nozzles into the 0º rearward position straight away and let the aircraft climb well clear before then slowly adjusting the angle of the thrust back to the rearward position.

Marina Militare Italiana “NAVE CAVOUR” Aircraft Carrier

The takeoff from the custom provided aircraft carrier is much the same as a full loaded takeoff, but with a difference! The provided carrier is to be first in replacing the X-Plane "Nimitz" carrier and the files have to be switched over for it to work. You can use the Nimitz of course, but it doesn't have a built-in ski-ramp of which the "NAVE CAVOUR" does...

Use the "Carrier" button in the "Menu/Flight" to position you on the carrier. You find the first position will actually throw you burning over the side of the ship!, but do it again and you will this time stay on the deck.... the position is in an odd place just behind the ship's island, so you have to carefully move the aircraft almost directly to the left to get to the ship's runway, you can't loop around the deck either or go backwards, so it is a tight manoeuvre , but you can now sort of sit on the 500 marker.

Again use the 50º nozzle angle and hold the aircraft on the brakes. Your first thought would be to hammer the throttle full blast to get you airborne, but in fact that is the wrong thing to do? as you will hit the ramp too fast and you sort of compress the front gear into the deck and you will then bang your way upwards and go unwieldy into the air or usually over the front of the ship.

60º throttle, but let the thrust build before letting go of the brakes, if you get the speed right the Harrier will find the slope and you will be launched into the air, even a low 85 knts is enough to get you airborne, and once clear then bring in more throttle to maintain your climb rate, again don't move the nozzles aft until you have enough aerodynamic lift and speed...

... climb out cleanly and start the mission.

Landing back on the CAVOUR is slightly easier because the ship is moving forward, so it helps that high pitch angle approach. Most approaches are to the left of the deck at around 100ft then roll slow over the carrier deck and then reduce slowly your height, easy... well not at first, again if you want quick landing then come in slow over the stern and with a forward moving to stop landing on the deck is a still far easier approach.

Once at speed you will need to switch the "Flaps" to "Cruise" (don't forget to switch them back to auto) to bring them up to the full 5º flight setting, you will feel the extra drag and lift, unless you do this.

The HUD (Head-Up Display) is excellent, with a lot of detail that combines both Navigation and Weaponing data, Barometric Altitude or measured Radar Altimeter Altitude are both indicated as is the important Heading, Speed, Artificial Horizon, Horizon Reference, Weapons Status, Nozzle Flap position, Pitch Flight Director and Flight/Engine data. You can adjust the brightness from green to white.

The AFC (Automatic Flight Control) is very easy to use. Level the aircraft on the heading and altitude you require, then in the MFD select MENU/COMMAND and then select both AFC and ALT...

Want to change heading then just hold the stick on the direction you want to go.... when at the new heading just centre the stick...

... the Harrier will then realign to the heading exactly, mostly going in the opposite direction slightly and then centering the aircraft, to change altitude you just switch off the ALT and pitch up or down and reset at the new altitude.

UFC (Upfront Control Panel)

The in your face UFC (Upfront Control Panel) is easy to use once you have worked out what all the different actions are.... TMR (Timer), TOO (Target of Opportunity) are top left.... IFF (Identification Friend or Foe), TCN (Tacan), AWL (All weather Landing System), WPN (Weapons), ALT(Altimeters) and EMCON(EmissionControl). I/P, WOF (and no it isn't "What the F*ok") and BCN don't work at this point. And all the selected choices are shown in the top left ODU (Option Display Unit). The UFC scratch pad top is used to input the data and ENT to enter the data.

Weapons

Laminar Research have upgraded the "Weapon" feature in X-Plane over the last few years, but the 11.30 version gave with the particle effects the real "Wow" factor.

Main "MASTER ARM" is to your left... a layout of your armaments is shown on the MFD - MENU/MISSION/WEAPONS and also on the HUD lower right.... if you select the WPN on the ODU you can select which WPN selection you want to use in Air to Air, Air to Ground or use the Gun. There is a SAFE(ty) on both the ODU or the MFD to unlock the weapon.

The lower MFD display buttons L or R selects the type of armament you want to use

When you have all your selecting done, then when ready just "Fire!" (X-Plane key or joystick command required).

It is pretty spectacular... You can of course dump any armaments or long range fuel tanks in flight.

All these areas of systems use and all the complex symbology is all explained in the excellent in depth "Flight Manual", it will take some time to know everything, its complex, but that complexity comes with the realism, and to a point that is why we fly these aircraft... for the absolute if complicated

There is really only two sets of illumination, with one the main panel and side consoles lighting, and all are adjustable. The second is the Overhead/Flood light that actually illuminates from the canopy sides, all are excellent.

Externally there are FORM (Formation) lights and they are knob adjustable, POS (Position), ANTI COLL (Collision), AUX (Auxiliary - Taxi Light) and single landing light on the front strut. Various lighting modes allow full or dim position lights... there is also a NVG setting that turns off all the external lights and are then replaced by LED infra-red lights. (see in X-Plane's "Night-Vision" feature).

Liveries

The bulk of the liveries are leaned towards the AV-8B operators, both with the US Marine Corps, Italian and Spanish airforces... the RAF does get a few versions put in there, but they are the more the odd ones than the earlier GR.3 or GR.5 liveries, the RN livery is not the main "Falklands" version either... note the different nose configurations with certain liveries. There are twelve hi-quality liveries as part of the package and a paint kit is available.

This is the "Harrier AV-8B GR3 XZ133 1982 Tribute 1.0" by Domhenry and was active in the Falklands, first from the HMS Hermes and then from Port Stanley. The aircraft is currently (hanging) at RAF Duxford... image noted above.

Summary

The AV-8B is the second generation (discounting the prototypes) of the British Hawker Siddeley Harrier "Jump Jet", upgraded by McDonnell Douglas with a bigger engine, bigger wing and more armament attachment points and raised canopy, as it was eventually also used in the RAF as the GR.5.

An outstanding versatile V/STOL aircraft, the Harriers capablities gave the aircraft a wide range of theatre roles and was the dominant force in the "Falklands War" in 1982. It was known as a "difficult" aircraft to fly, for the obvious reasons and the US Marine Corps have wreaked nearly 110 aircraft that have been damaged beyond repair since the type entered USMC service in 1985.

This not the first Harrier for X-Plane, but certainly the first in depth quality design from X-Trident, and was a follow on project from their earlier also excellent Pavavia Tornado GR4. System depth including weapon systems with both CCIP and CCRP bombing modes, MFDs with click-to-lock A/A targets, UFC and CDU, highly detailed HUD with master modes and navigation with GPS (with moving maps, in scale with NAVAIDS) and TACAN (A/G and A/A).

Fully detailed and authentic VTOL rotating nozzle and vectored-thrust control systems are really well designed and comes with performance and vertical flight controlability, sounds are also exceptional, and all through the full range of vectored thrust. Added details includes 12 different armament configurations, custom Italiana “NAVE CAVOUR” Aircraft Carrier, in-flight refueling and placeable target ground objects.

Negatives, not much, if anything... one click static elements restricts a lot versatile options on the ground and some external lighting could be more refined, the non-hideable stick hides instruments and a animated pilot would also be nice. Mostly in this area you need to note that the Harrier is not the easiest aircraft to fly, and the systems are quite complex to learn and use (there is an excellent manual) so the Harrier is not for the unskilled or first time timers. Even if you are highly skilled the aircraft is still a challenge because this is an V/STOL unorthodox flying machine and not even your every day fighter aircraft, but authentic to the Jump Jet it is.

Overall X-Trident have done an exceptional job in recreating a classic revolutionary aircraft design, and highly challenging one at that. The quality in this fighter clas is now getting very high as is all of X-Plane aircraft of this detail and systems, but this AV-8B certainly delivers in all aspects of what you would want in flying the Harrier Jump Jet... Highly Recommended, but be aware as this is not your usual flying machine.

Down﻿load for the Harrier AV-8Bis 740.40mb and the unzipped file is deposited in the "Fighters" X-Plane folder at 1.58gb

Installation of the Militare Italiana “NAVE CAVOUR” Aircraft Carrier is required for use, you replace the X-Plane default carrier Nimitz. Weapon configurations are required before starting the X-Plane simulator and any custom targets have to be placed for use.

The original PiperCub was the J-3 a very lightweight tamdem-seater aircraft built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. (the first design was the "Taylor Cub" but it was Piper Aircraft that created the classic Cub version that sold 20,000 aircraft). The design is extremely simple with a fabric covered tube frame with a strut-braced high-wing monoplane with a large-area rectangular wing and was powered by an 37 hp (28 kW) air-cooled piston engine driving a fixed-pitch propeller. The Cub was as basic an aircraft as you could fly in the air.

Like all successful designs then the aircraft grew, with bigger engines with more speed and more capabilities, and so it is with the Cub, or the SUPER Cub.

The PA-11 was the classic Cub with a bigger 65 hp (48 kW) Continental A65-8 piston engine and that morphed into the 95 hp Continental C-90-8F piston engine, sometimes known as the PA-18-95 known as the first SuperCub, but the first true "Super" Cub had flaps, dual fuel tanks, and an O-235 Lycoming engine producing about 108 hp (115 hp for takeoff only). The power was still increased until the ultimate until 1954 variant with a 150 hp Lycoming O-320 which is really the Super, Super, SuperCub! and the one we are reviewing here.

There are three versions included with ASDG's SuperCub...

150HP Titan™ X320 powered Super Cub, with a separate flight model for Tundra Tires and or the Standard Tires.

In reality what you are flying here is a tube frame with and an engine fastened on the front and the wings attached above and a tailplane and rudder at the back... but for such a barely basic design the aircraft quite versatile. Most Cub roles are as a trainer, but the aircraft was an excellent observation aircraft and better still as a bush pilot's aircraft, ski's and floats (on the higher powered versions) also add to its workability.

The aircraft comes with SimCoder's REP "Reality Expansion Pack" as part of the package and is in part the case for the high price as any REP is an add-on of usually around US$20. Yes the REP packages are excellent, but they can also interfere sometimes a little too forcefully in just you wanting to basically fly the aircraft.

Menus

There are two sets of menu tabs on your left lower part of your screen. The top set are the main menus and the lower tab is the "Titan" Engine specifications.

There are six main menu tabs to choose from on a left hand window menu that is slightly hidden until activated.

Top to bottom they consist of : Kneeboard, Mass & Balance, Walkaround, Tow, Maintenance Report and Automatic Engine Start. There is one more Menu option in "Settings" but that is not listed under a tab, but it is placed in your plugin menu that allows you to set REP settings to your liking. These include : Enable Aircraft Damages, Show Failure Messages, Show Tips, Enable Mouse Gestures, Show Side Menu on mouse Hover, Save and Restore Aircraft Status between (flying) sessions, Enable Hypoxia effects and use Imperial Units (metric is default).

The "Settings" menu does thankfully allow you to fly the aircraft in some sort of peace without the constant popup's of messages which in REP's can be really annoying and distracting for, but I do like the "Save and Restore Aircraft Status" to keep the continuity between flights.

Kneeboard has three sets of notes : Normal Operations, Emergency and References, overall it is a basic set up but usable.

Mass & Balance allows you to set up the aircraft with fuel, passengers, baggage and weights.

It is quite a powerful panel with a very good Centre of Gravity balance envelope graph to see your changes, both male and female rear passengers are available and are thankfully realistic.

Walkaround is another SimCoder feature in that you walk around the aircraft and check it out for its current condition or for flight.

You can check the fluids and the condition of the fluid, and all flying surfaces can be checked by moving them violently up and down.

You can also add in or remove static elements of chocks and tiedowns, which is a long way around than doing something than just clicking the items on a menu...

Tow is an idea of putting you behind the rear tailplane and then moving the aircraft with your joystick.

You sorta get the Tow idea, but you are facing the wrong way to see where the aircraft is actually pointing to or where you are moving to? It is tricky at first, but then you get it.... sorta.

Maintenance Report gives you three pages of the condition of the aircraft and you can interact on the form to rectify the items on the list, like oil changes, spark plugs (Normal or Fine-Wire) and tyres (Tires).

The front engine canopy is separate with a modeled Titan X340 in there but with no removable actions to see it? But my guess is when Maintenance is required you are given access to the engine?

Automatic Engine Start is the valuable tool to keep you sane... or at least keep your sanity intact. One of the biggest barriers for me enjoying these REP packages is the simple task of starting the the engine and then keeping it running. I have many times in the past simply abandoned a REP review because I simply spent to much time and throwing way to much anger at a computer screen to find I had better things to review than put up with all this pain.

So the Automatic Engine Start is a lifesaver (even though I still had to use it three times to get to the runway?) and can least can start the engine, if keeping it going is another matter entirely. Yes realism is brilliant, but it doesn't have to be as complicated or at least you can or should have the option to tone it down or disconnect the idea. Yes I did all the right things in fine-tuning the mixture, yes the spark plugs do foul, but not to the extent of you wanting to throw a towel at your computer...

Detailing

The aircraft is certainly well modeled with a lot of care for the details, you find the differences in materials in construction easy to identify and that makes up for a lot of the realism.

The two types of propeller in the fixed and variable constant-speed on the standard 150HP and 180HP versions, but I was disappointed that the variable propeller blades didn't move if you adjusted them? Worn and tired metal and working surfaces are done really well, the Cub looks like the old workhorse it is.

The major details is on the landing gear with the main and excellent trailing wheel. All the wire work, with the animated control wires are also very well done. Wing spars and fabric looks realistic, but the bolts are drawn on and not highlighted (mapped). The detailed Titan engine is not accessible?

I prefer the smaller regular wheels (Tyres) to the larger Balloon Tundra Tyres...

.... I think they are portrayed as covered in mud? But look more like a harder solid than rubber? and the they don't sit correctly on the ground either and that makes it all look a little odd and the aircraft is hovering more than resting.

Glass or say Hard Plastic? is well done with great reflections, side window goes up and side lower door drops down, but the lower door looks a little flat and unconvincing.

There are two sets of textures. The aircraft comes with 4K textures, but if you wish you can load 2K textures to save framerate. The 2K textures are downloaded from ASDG's site here : 2K Texture Pack as framerate with the 4K textures can a big draw on your processors, my graphic resolution came to over 4GB (4530MB) at my usual KLAL setting, so the 2K's could help if you use heavy scenery or if you are restricted to a 4GB graphic card or lower.

Flying the SuperCub

Two things are to be held in mind before flying the SuperCub. One is to make sure the tiller wheel is locked in to the rudder movement as only the really good bushmasters can fly these spindly airframes and not somersault them off the runway, and to also note the actual rear wheel turns more slowly than the rudder itself. Second is that before you want to explore the far wide and country, that you do a set of serious circuits of takeoff, circuit, and landing again, as the aircraft requires a certain skill to get the procedures correct, you will understand exactly what I mean when you crawl from under the aircraft from your first throttle up or hard bouncy landing... it takes a certain skill or practice to get the details right. For a simple and basic aircraft this Cub is not that easy to fly in the takeoff and landing phases, but you do adjust and fine tune your skill set to match that over a short space of time.

But once in the air the Cub becomes fun. As expected the aircraft is light and ease to touch on the controls. Any seat by the pants and rudder and stick person would certainly love the feel of this sort of basic flying...

The spider's web of the aircraft's frame surrounds you, but leaves you open to the elements of light and space. Note the built-in wing fuel tank gauge.

The instrument panel is basic with a few mod-cons.

First is the only difference between the two different fixed and the variable constant-speed propeller versions. The constant-speed (Tundra) has the extra knob (blue) for propeller adjustment, were as the fixed version (below) has none but the mixture (red) and the fixed is missing the Manifold Pressure gauge of the Tundra.

Mostly the instrument panel is easy to read, but in some lighting conditions the reflections can be a bit too strong and blank out the instrument details.

Standard Six instruments are centred in line of sight of the flying pilot with the Airspeed Indicator, Artificial Horizon and the Attitude Indicator on the top row and the bank/turn coordinator, Heading Dial and Vertical Speed Indicators set out directly below, there is to the right the one large VOR OBS dial for VOR2 above and a ABS pointer below. A suction dial is far right.

Four dials far left cover the Oil Temp and Oil Pressure (top row), and the Cylinder Head Temp and Manifold Pressure (Tundra) on the lower. A large RPM and hour gauge sits top right. Avionics is the standard X-Plane GNS 430 (pops out) Com1/Nav1and a Garmin GTX 330 transponder. A Bendix King KR 87 is the ADF radio far bottom.

A lovely pitch trim handle with magneto switches with the fuel tank selector is on the right side with dual throttles top, left side is a map pocket. Note the very fine metal bar rudder pedals with excellent control cables.

There is great switch panel way up to your right with circuit breakers. The Amperes dial will also react correctly to any switch throws of current.

There is a basic 2 axis built in autopilot that covers the heading and altitude hold. It is a Genesys System 30 that is built into the roll indicator instrument.

So how does it work? no idea? as there is no manual, in fact there are no manuals at all from ASDG, but manuals are "coming" as noted by the developer and in the meanwhile we will just have to work it all out for ourselves? I did manage however to hold the altitude and capture the heading, but as for a detailed description then we will have to wait for the manual to arrive, but it does look good.

Sound is FMOD and is very good with 3d spatial directional sound. But the external sounds are far more a higher level than the internal sound to the point the X-Plane sound volume is in this case needed to be lowered to the 30% position on the external sounds to make them more realistic. Personally my feeling is that internally with an engine positioned right by your feet mounted on a metal frame is certainly going to be far noisier than an external sound that is set a fair distance from the aircraft.

But lets get to the tricky bit...

After a very nice potter around the Florida landscape in the SuperCub it was time to return to KLAL - Lakeland and start this review.

With it's extremely light frame and weight (930lb (422 kg) the Cub on approach has both a lot for it and also against it at the same time. The "for it" is that the aircraft is a sweet balance of controls and that great feel that would be best described as "Bush Pilot Heaven", you feel so in control and one with the aircraft that it is just a natural progression of your body.

Your approach and in this case it is towards RWY27 at KLAL and it feels completely in control, but when you lower the two stage flaps (handle is on the floor on the pilot's left) and then you do reach down to the 60 kts approach speed, then the 'against it" factor appears in that any slight wind or breeze will make any approach difficult as you drift or lose your perfect runway alignment... more power , but you can't as your speed needs to be as low as possible.

Now certainly you are saying "easy mate, I can fly that" but it is not as easy as it looks, as more power just gives you more angled drift, more rudder just drifts you anyway but the wrong way, as you are so light that any breeze can make the landing difficult, so sometimes the aircraft can stall or even stop in mid-air in a hang-glider moment.

You are now sort of fighting the aircraft between a slow speed and direction, but you get there with as little throttle movement as possible. Why not power your way out of all this? Because those huge balloon tundra tyres will not let you if you give them even the slightest weight of landing and they will simply bounce you straight back into the sky...

... not once but as many times as they feel like it and this is with an approach speed of 50 knts and lower and the Tundra's also have a very small narrow track set between them and so it is like landing on a huge trampoline with your feet together with no hard surface to really stick down on to.

I did it... I mean I landed twice, In the fact I did actually landed the Cub, but it really tests your skill level.... personally I stuck to the standard tyres, but even they can still cartwheel the aircraft off the runway with that tight narrow front track, but at least they won't bounce you back up into the stratosphere in doing so. Fun, yes in a sweaty anxious sort of way, as your world that was a few moments ago was so serene and peaceful with the world, then you found yourself suddenly struggling to control a simple landing... if you find that fun, then you will love the "Cub"

Night Lighting

Biggest shock here is that the instruments are not back lit? The only way you can see the instruments is to switch on a light above your head to the right.

There maybe an instrument lighting adjuster knob, but we have no manual of course? The light is hard to find in the dark, even when switched on...

... and there is the same secondary light for the rear, both are not adjustable. External lighting is basic, as it would be on an aircraft like this, but you do have taxi/landing lights and a beacon on the tail.

The aircraft is quite glossy in the dark, which doesn't look very realistic for a fabric aircraft.

Liveries

There is a wide range of seventeen liveries including the famous "Yellow Cub" as default. All are excellent with three Alaskan Airmen designs and a wide range of rego numbers, the "SubLivery" is well... different.

Summary

There are certain classic aircraft that you require in a simulator. All simulators have them, but a high quality version is also required to see and get the best experience from why that aircraft and in this case the Piper Cub is so famous and so loved.

It is in reality a bare bones machine, and you feel that and fly the machine that way... and that is why those hardened "Bushie" style pilot's will revel in what they have available here, as for being the famous "Cub you can't get better than this, but it is tricky to takeoff and land until you match your skill set with the aircraft...

Overall AeroSim Development Group have done an excellent job here, but there are a few things that should have been covered before releasing the aircraft. No manual is a glaring ommission, a really bad one here as there maybe features you could like, but simply can't access because you can't find them, yes this was a frustrating review at times because of that simple omission, and so yes I may have missed items in the review but you can't review what you can't access or find. A few weeks in finishing off the package would have seen a better presentation for a new developer... a classic mistake.

Detailing is excellent and this is a very nice aircraft, but there is a bit of a bad glossy shine in some lighting conditions (more visible at night) that sorta "takes the shine off it", the Tundra tyres highlight this effect, but the modeling and detailing is very good to excellent otherwise.

The addition of the SimCoders REP is certainly a huge advantage to the package, but it also creates a few bête noire's in the process. One it adds up to a more expensive package than that you would pay for this sort of machine, but it is also value as well because most REP packages are usually around US$20 and if you added in the extra cost of the aircraft then in reality it is a very good value deal, and so it goes both ways. REP packages can also be a bit frustrating in that they don't give you options or the ability to tone down certain characteristics and in other words they can be inflexible. Certainly the "Automatic Engine Start" is a great tool, but having to use it constantly means there should be more give or graded areas in the way the REP's control the aircraft, you feel mostly out of control of your own machine, get it right and certainly it works, but for a simple "jump in and fly" the REP can create a boundary that sometimes borders on you flying something else... I simply lost count of the many in-flight restarts I did, until my battery went flat and I then just gave up... just more flexibility is required.

The "Piper Cub" is a great aircraft, totally basic and excellent to fly, X-Plane deserves a great classic like this aircraft and here it is, and a "Float" version is coming soon as well, so overall a great and value package.

In the early evolution of aircraft design it was the singular force of an pioneer engineer that drove the design and innovation. Think of the names of Curtiss, Boeing, Douglas, Hawker, Dornier, Junkers, Hughes and many more. But as the designs became more complex and they required more od the differential skills then most of these individual pioneers were replaced with teams or companies to build the aviation industry into what we know today, most of these manufacturers were still exceedingly clever in what they produced, but were also very conservative in the same sense in that their expensive products had to also be sold and be highly reliable, and so the maverick pioneer of the early times was reduced to the outcast nutjob the dreamer who lacked funds to create their designs. The only major aviation advances then mostly came from the expensive military aspect of pushing the boundaries, and then out into space itself. But one man in the last half decade has still been a total maverick an honor back those earlier pioneers and in the process has turned the principals of aviation on their heads, his name is Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan.

Burt Rutan is now retired but his legacy is certainly amongst being one of the aviation's greats. A "maverick" and yes that title is perfectly acceptable for Rutan, but his list of achievements is simply extraordinary... early designs were mostly homebuilt aircraft and specialized research aircraft, but it was the Voyager project in designing an aircraft that could fly a nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world, and do something that had never been done before.

In December 1986, Voyager took off from the famous Edwards Air Force Base in California and flew around the world (westward) in nine days, fulfilling the aircraft's design goals. The oddly shaped Voyager was retired and now hangs in the Milestones of Flight exhibit in the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) main exhibit hall, alongside with the Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis and Bell X-1 and all barrier breaking aircraft.Then came the GlobalFlyer which set a record for the longest flight in history at 41,467.53km (25,766.73 mi), and in doing so gaining the third absolute world record set with this aircraft. Then later again came Virgin Galactic SpaceShipOne and its carrier aircraft in the White Knight Two, and that is the spacecraft to bring space travel to everyone or anyone that can afford the 200,000 seat cost. His name is forever associated with the company he formed called "Scaled Composites" or SCALED and they are based in Mojave and only a stones throw from the huge Edwards Air Force Base complex in the high southeastern California and southern Nevada desert were Burt started his career in 1965 to 1972 , when back then Rutan was a civilian flight test project engineer for the U.S. Airforce.

Rutan's first personal projects were the VariViggen and VariViggen SP which first flew in April 1972. It had the large rear wing, forward canard, and pusher configuration design elements which became his trademarks. But it was the VariEze and Long-EZ that came next that became the default Rutan design, in that with the unusual aerodynamic surfaces they were also built of the then new composite design. It was a collaboration with the great English Formula One designer Colin Chapman that both men wanted the new material to create both extremely light but far stronger racing cars and aircraft, but sadly Chapman died before the ideas were brought to fruition. (John Barnard created the first carbon-fibre composite chassis that was first seen in 1981 with McLaren F1 Racing).

Rutan Model 61 Long - EZ

Although the VariEze was a successful design, Rutan thought the idea could done be better with the use of the more readily available Lycoming aircraft engines in lieu of the VariEze Volkswagen-derived engines and so the Long-Ez was clean-sheet scaled-up total redesign of the earlier aircraft. Changes from the VariEze included a larger main wing with modified Eppler 1230 airfoil and less sweep—the canard uses the same GU25-5(11)8 airfoil as the VariEze—larger strakes containing more fuel and baggage storage, and a slightly wider cabin. Plans were offered from 1980 to 1985. As of late 2005, there is still approximately 700 Long EZ's are FAA registered in the USA. At that time Scaled Composites was then known as Rutan Aircraft Factory, Inc.

But some owners complained of the "rain trim change" that had been experienced by all Long-EZ pilots. This trim change is usually a nose down trim change experienced when flying into rain and then requiring a small aft force on the stick to maintain altitude, which is easily trimmed out, using the bungee trim system. So a new canard was designed with the Roncz R1145MS airfoil, which produces considerably more lift than the original GU25-5(11)8 airfoil.

Any Rutan design is always going to throw the aviation rule book out of the window, and so the Long-Ez looks nothing like your standard GA or even a homebuilt aircraft. It looks more like a sports racer from Star Wars film or any futuristic video game.

There are two liveries provided with the original test aircraft N79RA and a "Thunderbirds' (aerobatic display team) Red, Blue and White scheme, there is a very nice Swiss version but that is not included here. I'm going to stick with Thunderbirds as the original test livery is a bit bland.

My thoughts of these series of aircraft was to create an aircraft that were extremely easy to fly, more car like in operation with fewer controls and sturdy handling than the rather with the complexities of flying normal aircraft. It feels and certainly flies that way compared to a normal general aviation aircraft

There is a double-seater glass canopy, but the high lower sides means only your heads sit right above up there in the glass, it feels all very 70's Formula One one sitting in here with the high sides and with the front canard also highly visible... The view all round though is very good and the aircraft would certainly be great as a VR (Virtual Reality) candidate and is already VR compatible and the Long-Ez sorta also handles like a flying F1 car as well, tight but with flowing in directional changes.

Instrument panel is quite comprehensive for such a small tight aircraft. Top row are all the electrical power and lighting switches... Standard six flying instruments are not all here with just the four in... Airspeed Indicator, Artificial Horizon and the Attitude Indicator on the top row and the Vertical Speed Indicator bottom far right. An excellent EXPERIMENTAL/LSA autopilot type system is far left (we will come back to that instrument in a minute) and a Garmin OBS VOR indicator (VOR1) dial centre, below is a Bendix/King KT76 Transponder with a Mitchell Volt meter left... note the Heading Dial down lower centre. Key start and panel lighting knobs are far, far left.

Engine gauges are grouped lower left with a large manifold pressure (inHg) and fuel flow (gallons per hour) and RPM gauge. Oil temperature and Oil pressure gauges are above and below the centre Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT) gauge. On the right side wall are three gauges that cover both 26 GAL fuel tanks and an outside VDO temperature gauge ºC.

Left side is the connected canopy release with below a trim lever and BRKE (airbrake). Mixture, Throttle and Carb Heat levers are front.

Right side lower is the joystick and Aileron trim rear... The aircraft design plate is nicely well done here as well.

The big handle is to retract or extend the front landing wheel gear, but the X-Plane key setting will do all the work for you... the (arrowed) hole allows you to see if the gear is down. Behind is the fuel tank switch in Left - Right and OFF.

The internal cabin materials are excellent, with the weaved carbon-fiber matting and exposed fibreglass surrounding you and your single passenger...

... the aircraft has "EXPERIMENTAL" pasted across the glareshield, but that is what this aircraft actually is, a basic bare-bones flying machine, there are no comfort features in here, and the well created detailing also gets that message across, and you also feel the slight age now of the aircraft as well (1980) as that aspect has been very well recreated, in the wear, tear and soiled fabrics as this X-Plane aircraft has been designed around the original Long-EZ (NR79RA) prototype. Some Long-Ez's are equipped with a rear-seat fuel tank, and a Long-EZ has flown for 4,800 miles (7,700 kilometers) in this configuration.

Flying the Long-Ez

Externally the aircraft is of composite construction, and in X-Plane that aspect can come across as a little bland, but if you look closely then VskyLabs have created some nice wear, tear and visual points to give the fuselage some detail and aging, but it is still a hard aspect to cover completely.

The pods beneath the wings are not fuel tanks but luggage containers or really places just to stow items than say full sized luggage. The undercarriage is unusual in that the rear gear is a one piece molded s-fibreglass/epoxy (resin) set out as two struts that is extremely strong but also flexible with excellent energy absorption, and also highly efficient aerodynamically. The front gear is as noted manually retractable, but again immensely strong. Most owners usually retract the front gear when parking up the aircraft to create a sort of nose down attitude and to start the engine via handpopping, the nose down in the dirt stops the aircraft running away from you... which when you think about that it is a good idea.

One of the most interesting aspects of the aircraft is it's rudder arrangement... the rudders are on the end of each wingtip. But when you yaw or use the rudder pedals then only one rudder then moves while the other rudder stays straight, and vice-versa, both rudders can also go outwards to act like an airbrake but that is not simulated here.

That nosewheel can be tricky? It is freewheeling or a bit like a taildraggers loose tail wheel situated on the nose and not the tail, so if you try to turn too tight it flickers from side to side... there is a trick to turning and taxiing smoothly and you will soon master it, but it is a strange feel to get right at first.

Sounds of the Lycoming O-235 air-cooled flat-four engine, 115 hp (86 kW) are spot on and highly realistic, a pair of headphones can highlight the air-cooled engine. Sounds are 180º FMOD and I particularly liked the lower idle throbbing...

With the Long-Ez I use the XPRealistic Pro dynamic movements plugin, which I highly recommend here, make sure you have the engine throttle movements (shaking) quite high to get the engine shake for realism... Throttle up and it is a neck back snapping experience, the Long-Ez just goes like a rocket with so little weight and the power of the 115 hp Lycoming.

Rotate is around 70knts, and watch for any directional wind as this light aircraft can easily be buffeted off line by even just a breeze. There are no flaps at all, just rudders and aileron's, and the huge canard forward which does the lifting and the balancing act.

If the trim is correct the Log-Ez is super easy to fly as you would expect it to be, as the turns and manoeuvrability are excellent, but don't go doing over excitable acts as this aircraft does have odd performance areas that you just don't want to go there, full performance and their limits are provided in the manual.

The EXPERIMENTAL/LSA autopilot type system is an interesting tool. It has a built in rate-of-turn indicator by the red five boxes set either side of neutral.

Then to hold an altitude and the heading you press the "ALT" (mode) button which acts like a hold and you get a green marker to say that action is activated...

... if you use the UP (Climb) or DN (Descend) buttons the green turns to yellow for the ATT mode, pressing the ALT returns you to the (ALT Mode) or straight and level. If you press the LT (Left Turn) or RT (Right Turn) buttons it stays in the ALT mode but banks to the required turn red box, clicking the opposite direction button will neutral the turn. I found that when in the normal ALT mode you need to centre the LT/RT to keep it tight on the heading or you will drift to the left or right (sort of trimming the heading), once set right the heading will stay on course. To disengage the LSA just press the ALT again to disconnect (cycle). The LSA is extremely easy to use and is very effective for long flights like In 1997, when Dick Rutan and Mike Melvill flew two Rutan Long-EZ aircraft that they had built, side-by-side around the world. This "around the world in 80 nights" flight was called The Spirit of EAA Friendship World Tour, and some of the flying legs lasted for over 14 hours.

Landing can be a bit tricky with no flaps, but you have a great almost fishbowl outside view that helps in the coordination and focus of the runway.

You have a two stage airbrake situated under the fuselage that helps in controlling the excessive speed, but the full position can easily stall you if you use it wrongly, but it is good in the case of losing height and speed. The single extension gives you the best option, but again you use it sparingly...

The trick is to believe in the aerodynamics in that both that huge delta wing behind you and that canard in front of you will totally support you and give you the efficient lift you require, it takes a few landings to trust them, but in doing so and then the landing phase become easier, although I did find I used a lot of runway before accepting the ground as the ground effect lift is quite strong...

You need to keep the approach above 70knts, but you landing speed target is usually around 55knts, but I found just under 60knts was fine, and overall the aircraft is quite stable unless you have a strongish crosswind, and then it is simply horrible!

Lighting

The Long-Ez has very simple lighting, the two knobs on the instrument panel control the main instrument lighting and the avionics lighting...

... but the instrument lighting does look nicely aged and authentic, as all the dials glow sweetly in the dark. External has the navigation lights and a two stage single light in the nose that covers the different taxi and landing light brightnesses, not totally effective, but most Long-Ez's don't have landing or taxi lights either.

The strobes are very bright at night and it feels like your are flying through a bad lighting storm most of the time...

Summary

It is important to note that all VskyLabs aircraft are "Projects", and are not completed aircraft, in other words the work is on going and you must be aware of that in the purchase, this aircraft doesn't even have rudder pedals? which seems to be a really odd missing item, even on any launch aircraft. But they will come in an update soon, as with more canopy detailing (internal - strut), back cockpit detailing and extra liveries.

The aircraft is basically a simple machine, not only to use but to also fly, but that is also the same brief set out by it's designer in the first place. There are no menu's, static elements, pop out checklists (they are checklists in the supplied extensive manual) or any other fancy features to devour, this is all about the unusual flying characteristic of a very if again unusual design and a Burt Rutan design at that.

In that context VskyLabs have done a brilliant job in creating this classic aircraft, it is far harder to do than you can imagine as the flying performance is quite different from your usual GA aircraft, but the Long-Ez does fly and perform very much like the real aircraft. Certainly a lot of thought, sweat and tears have gone into the aircraft to do justice of it's original design and honor one of aviation's greats.

So here is the test... would you fly right around the X-Plane world in the Long-Ez, and that alone is great challenge, but a worthy one. So overall this Long-Ez is a great aircraft, but still slightly unfinished in a few areas, but that is the "project' aspect of the deal. So if you like the very different, challenging experimental style of aircraft then this is your type of aircraft, it is certainly different and also very interesting at the same time.

The project is designed and engineered around the original 1980 'LONG-EZ Plans' and 'Pilot Operating Handbook' (N79RA). As a result, the VSKYLABS Rutan LongEZ Owner's manual is based on the real LongEZ owner's manual. The manual for the VSKYLABS LongEZ aircraft can be downloaded for free.

The core of the project is a superb flight dynamics model with authentic aircraft performance and handling characteristics.

Ice! The airman's nightmare... Laminar Research has added in a great new ice feature into X-Plane that uses an icing algorithm. Never one to miss an opportunity when you see one, then vSkyLabs has added the feature to the DC3/C47 Skytrain aircraft. So this release version is interesting in that we new get to see the new Ice feature in action, and very good it is as well.

The DC3/C47 already had a great visual feature with the excellent rain effects that are very effective and realistic...

... you can almost feel the damp wet moisture trickling down your back, never mind the windows.

So if you thought about leaving your valuable classic Gooney Bird out in the elements now, then you need to think again?

As what you will now get is a very frozen bird... solid! So visually it is very effective and the ice creeps up and over the aircraft gradually and slowly if you leave it out in the snow and ice or like this in a cold Norwegian winter. Not just on the outside airframe but the windows are also frozen all over from the inside as well.

So what does the ice look and feel like in the air. Of course you have to have the right icing conditions set in X-Plane, so anything below -5 and a bit of rain/snow (precipitation) and a bit of low dense stratus are for the best effects. And it didn't take long to get some nasty icy bits to starting to form on the wings.

So how far can you press the ice factor?

and is that as far as you should be going as is this to far and you can't see out of the window...

... or even blizzard far?

No you can't go too far past that caking ice point without switching on the wing boots... because soon you will start to lose speed and altitude till the stall point, then it is... all over, your going down. The note says it is an "Icing issue!"... "No kidding"

Switches for activating the wing de-icing boots, Propeller de-icer and Carburetor de-icer will keep you airborne and the window de-icer will mean you can see where you are going... They do all work, but the wing boots are a little bit too efficient, one moment you are heavy with snow and ice, the next a absolutely clear clean wing? I would have liked a more less abrupt look, a sort of clean leading edge, but a still slightly dusted wing to be more realistic, or to peel away the ice in sections. It will be interesting how other developers will approach this same icy feature.

But icing does look and works very well in practice and flight so the feature is a great addition to the aircraft. And note the now more damage when hitting the ground, as the aircraft fragments on impact... not good, but good at the same time.

other v2.7b1 notes are:

XC-47C Amphibious variant added to the package. The variant is including EDO78 floats for land and sea operations.

Night Lit textures added to the default Buffalo Airways and to the VSKYLABS liveries.

STMA AutoUpdater plugin included.

The STMA update plugin is also now included, but I am not a fan of the way the STMA intrudes constantly on to your screen if you go over to the left side, I find it annoying and turn it off in the plugin menu. But it will ease the way for quicker updates.

monoblau on the X-Plane.Org has put up a set of float livery textures for this v2.7b1 aircraft (won't work with the earlier versions). The top float design is the default one with the aircraft... the others are clockwise : Aluminium, Galvanised Metal, Blistered Yellow, Rusted Metal Plates, Copper and Orange.

Overall I wasn't really excited by them, the only standout was the really good realistic rusted metal plates (above) that didn't look as plastically as the rest.

Summary

Another quick update here for the excellent DC3/C47 aircraft from vSkylabs. It is very feature driven and a cabin and opening doors are promised in the next major update v3.0 that will certainly lift it to new heights again. All updates including this one are free to current users

The icing effects are excellent and very realistic, and very detrimental you your flight if you push your luck too far. So they work well, but I would have liked a slightly more realistic after effect when using the wing boots... and like a lot of the effects in here they are all very on - off.

Only thing you need now is some engine and wheel cover blankets for the Dacca, anyone know where I get a set cheap...

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The DC-3/C47 v2.5a by VSkyLabs Flying Lab Project is NOW available! from theX-Plane.Org Store here :

Highly Realistic Flight Performance DC-3/C-47 Simulation: Highly accurate performance and handling simulation of the DC-3/C-47. Aircraft performance and handling qualities were designed and tested in a "Research level" approach and went through a validation process of more than 200 hours of flight testing and evaluation, made by real world C-47 pilot and aircraft performance expert. This model is stretching X-Plane to its limits in terms of delivering the authentic flying characteristics of the DC-3/C-47

Fully equipped with Radio and Navigation aids: along with a full set of traditional/old school navigation and autopilot systems, it is also equipped with a built-in 3D 2xGNS530(folding terminals)

Comprehensive FMOD sounds.

Workhorse for practicing DC-3/C-47 pilot skills: Experience authentic flight performance and handling practices (takeoff, landing, single engine operations, flight planning, long range flights and old school navigation). It is a perfect platform to recreate and fly historic routes using authentic performance simulation

Unique look and feel: The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 is a mixture of a simplified yet very engaging design and “feel” of the DC-3/C-47

Systems - easy to operate by beginners: All relevant systems are simulated but with the focus on getting the “Flying Lab” airborne without the need to go through a long “ground school”

Systems - easy to operate by beginners: All relevant systems are simulated but with the focus on getting the “Flying Lab” airborne without the need to go through a long “ground school”FPS friendly

Designed to utilize the “out of the box” features of X-Plane

STMA AutoUpdater plugin

you always have the most updated project version. Fully automatic

Additional Features:

Highly responsive support system/forum.

The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 Flying Lab is a project under constant development. All updates are free.

If you have already purchased the DC3/C47 from Vskylabs then just login to your X-Plane.OrgStore and go to your account and download the current v2.5a (note - that you download the 5a revised version!)

Requirements

Minimum System Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 CPU with 2 or more cores, or AMD equivalent.

This is not a full version update for SoulMade Simulation's excellent DHC-2 Beaver, but really an adjustment for the aircraft fly correctly in X-Plane11 with all the required X-Plane11 dynamics and performance details.

The full update for XP11 which is v1.3 has been promised for quite awhile, and understandably users were getting a little hot under the collar as the aircraft was quite unflyable in the X-Plane11 version of the simulator, and if you wanted to fly this amazing bush aircraft you were restricted to only the X-Plane10 version.

So Peter Krouse certainly wanted to deliver the full v1.3 update, but like in many cases real life just gets in the way.

So this update is not really an update at all but the X-Plane11 version of the DHC-2, the required performance and dynamic tweeks have been done and they are excellent, it flies and very well thank you very much. In fact it flies "really" well and my take a few fliers off-guard as the inputs are now really fine, but gives you excellent feel and control... the fact is this Beaver now flies far better than ever.

In fact now you really have to also relearn your input skills... Takeoff was fine (note to lock via a key input the tail-wheel, as that is only for the very, very experienced bush fliers out there).

But landing back at Stewart's CZST RWY36 the XP11 Beaver was quite a handful...

... the handling is quite different now and may I say even a bit edgy, but in reality quite perfect once you tune into the feel and also adjusting your inputs. Lowering your flaps still I feel needs a little adjusting, they come in too strong and can lift you even with the first step down and at a low approach speed, but once lowered the stability at the lower speeds are very good even if it puts you at the mercy of the wind.

So wind direction and strength is of course a factor, but you will need a few circuits to get the feel right and of course with XP11 performances the throttle control becomes as much a factor as the your arm and footwork inputs, overall the DHC-2 is now simply brilliant.

There has not been any PBR effects or anything else done to this Beaver yet, which is a shame. But the X-Plane11 lighting dynamics are still very much present...

... and that exquisite sensational instrument panel looks even more better than ever and the instrument glass is now beautifully reflective

Cabin looks great as well, well fitted out for both Full passenger, Pass+Cargo or Full Cargo layouts.

This update of the SMS DHC-2 Beaver to X-Plane11 is confined only to the dynamics and performance aspect of the aircraft. But it does more than just allow you to fly the aircraft in the XP11 version as the actual flying dynamics are quite different and has to be skill wise adjusted to, for everything else associated with X-Plane11 including the PBR effects and FMOD sounds then we will still have to wait for the v1.3 release.

But in the mean time this lovely and the most famous of all Bush aircraft is at least now available to be used quite well in X-Plane11, and it is this SoulMade Simulation Beaver that is still the very best Bush and Beaver aircraft you can fly in X-Plane, in either the X-Plane10 version and now in the X-Plane11 version. Highly recommended!

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TheDHC-2 Beaver by SoulMade Simulations for both XP10 & XP11 is available from theNew X-Plane.Org Store here :

To update then go to your X-Plane.OrgStore account and download the X-Plane11 version. Download size is 261.60mb.

Special Features: Very realistic flight model. Flight tested by real former DHC-2 Beaver pilots. Realistic sound environment provided by DreamEngine, Sonic Solutions and SoulMade Simulations. Awesome and extremely accurate modeling of the DHC-2 Beaver cockpit, interior and exterior. Fully animated and realistic 3D cockpit. Every switch and control can be operated. Realistic cockpit instrument and cabin lighting for dusk/dawn and night flying activities. Detailed animations for the interior and exterior model. Many different pre-set views for the cockpit, cabin and exterior can be selected via a 2D pop-up menu. Options menu to easily change wheel configurations, cabin configurations, pre-flight parts and other things without re-loading the aircraft. 2D pop-up window for the STEC-50 autopilot to allow an easy operation when there is no time to look down in the cockpit.

Features:
SASL plug-in enhanced flight model and systems, where many systems have been coded to replicate the behavior of the real DHC-2 Beaver, like: Flight Model Engine and Engine Systems Electrical System Fuel and Oil System Carburetor Heating STEC-50 Autopilot SoulMade Simulations floatplane docking feature (first in X-Plane) to realistically tie down your aircraft and move it around on water naturally. STEC-50 Autopilot coded from scratch to re-plicate real behavior and functionality Plug-in enhanced ground model to improve ground handling in cross-wind conditions Realistic failures in case the engine is overly abused during operation.

The Pitts S-2S (special) is an iconic aircraft for aerobatics all around the world, if you see a small biplane tumbling around and spinning out of control above you, it's most likely going to be the Pitts! It's strong airframe and remarkable design makes it readily available for sharp turns and stunt upon the pilots command! The powerful Lycoming AEIO-540-D4A5 (260hp) is a heavier engine from the previous models of the Pitts Special but it's increased power makes it more agile in flight. The S-2S model has one single cockpit seating one pilot, other models such as the S-2C can seat two people, so you can make the passenger feel nausea and ready to vomit! The S-2S has a twin talk fuel system and a 20ft wingspan. The real Pitts Special is a phenomenal aircraft, so does the Alabeo virtual version bring credit this aircraft deserves?

Flying aerobatics is great fun! Performing organized stunts in a remembered progression, confined to a small cubic area, is very challenging but also very rewarding! So I decided to take the challenge with the Alabeo Pitts S-2S, performing a progression of stunts in an organized manor of Elstree, London. So I started with the Pitts positioned on the ramp, engines off, cold and dark. Seeing the aircraft and walking around it made me very impressed by the 3D modelling and attention to detail, from seeing a real Pitts S-2S in real life I can really relate to the real experience I had walking around the real Pitts!

The 3D modelling, like always from Alabeo, has been done very well and accurately. Textures on the outside are great, every nut and bolt is clearly visible. My favorite textured area outside is the tail wheel strut, the dirty metal looks great and shows the 'real' age of the aircraft. It does look a little clean, but every well loved aircraft does! It makes me think if I could take off the cowling the engine would be in pristine condition, unfortunately that's not possible though! The actual tail wheel texture looks a bit odd though, I would expect a wheel to look a bit different to that! More like the main gear at the front of the aircraft where those wheels have been textured well. Another thing to notice is the 3D pilot, he is not optional though. When you are looking around outside he is sat in there whatever you do! A nice touch would be to make him optional. You can however move his visor up/ down, this can all be done in the pop out menu's.

Opening the canopy, moving into the cockpit. 3D modelling in the cockpit is superb, every gauge, strut, button and lever has been modeled and there are no proportion issues or anything that looks 'out of place'. I really like the fact that you can 'feel' the depth of where you're sat when you look down, this type of view is what will make a device like the oculus rift shine, depth representation is very important for a Virtual Reality headset.

On the subject of VR, wouldn't it be great to do some aerobatics inside the Pitts and X-Plane and actually feel as though you are doing it! Looking down and feeling the depth of where you're sat will make the experience of VR much better. Texturing in the cockpit is very good, it's not clean yet it shows wear and tear. For example, I like the addition of worn throttle lever, very realistic. The glass canopy also has pre-rendered reflections which looks great from inside, there is also an option to turn the glass completely opaque which essentially removes any reflections and glass texturing.

Preparing for flight

The first thing you notice when you enter the cockpit is the availability of instruments. The two main instruments you have are 'Speedometer' and 'Altimeter' the other common instruments such as 'Artificial Horizon', 'Turn Coordinator' , 'Vertical Speed' and 'Heading' are missing. It's common on a Pitts and other aerobatics aircraft to miss that although some previous models to the special had a turn coordinator. All of this just adds to the challenge!

The idea of flying the Pitts is to do most things visually, using the visible horizon as a guide. This does help when doing aerobatics though as keeping a focus on the horizon level through the window helps to avoid any major crashing!

After receiving clearance from the tower to start the engine and taxi to the holding point I then started the engine. Starting the engine is very simple, mixture rich, master switch on and fuel boost. Turn the the key to both and the engine will start if the throttle is left open a little. This is not a study level simulated aircraft so the procedures to operate it are very basic, that said flying loops and barrel rolls puts a smile on your face!

I noticed one thing, after turning on the master switch my oil temperature instantly was set, the needle did not rise but was just instantly placed. It would be nice for the Pitts to simulate a slow rise after the master is switched on, this is only a very small detail though.

In Flight

The Pitts is very responsive to all changes, I felt that my joystick inputs where picked up a little too sensitive so I decided to reconfigure a few of my X-Plane settings, after though the aircraft felt a little heavier to move which I believe is more realistic. The Pitts was very hard to control on the ground, I have never controlled the aircraft for real on the ground but I don't believe that the tail wheel sliding around like its on ice is the most accurate of representations!

So onto the fun stuff... Aerobatics!

The first move I tried was a barrel roll, just a simple aileron roll to the left or right, no rudder needed. This is a great aerobatic move, it's fun quick and easy, it can also be made more challenging by doing it closer to the ground. The second move was the loop, full throttle into steep climb pulling back. At the top, reduce throttle and gently let the plane fall back on itself to complete the loop! It looks great from the ground and it feel great in the Pitts too.

On all moves I performed the Pitts flew flawlessly, Alabeo have found the balance between agility and power which makes it fun to fly. The engine is not so powerful that you look like a space rocket but just powerful enough to perform great stunts and be able to recover safely.

The iconic feature of this aircraft and all that perform aerobatics is smoke that leaves a fantastic trail behind the plane. When I saw the smoke button in the cockpit that is what I expected to happen, instead the default smoke came out which as you may know is not very white and fluffy! So an improvement there would be for Alabeo to make such system or plugin for the white fluffy smoke that leaves a long trail.

Configuration Options

As with all Alabeo aircraft you get a side menu that never goes away. It would be nice to be able to hide that menu from the screen. From the menu you change your camera view which is a great feature, especially when performing stunts! There are many camera options to pick from and the camera moved instantly but I did suffer a slight bit of lag.

The second menu is the option for certain changes you can make specific for this aircraft. For example you can add or remove the aerosight, put the visor up/ down on your pilot, instrument reflections on/ off and transparent canopy on/ off. These options are fun to play around with.

The third menu gives you quick access to your radio and squawk box, this is most certainly needed as flying without it in x-plane would be very tricky. Inside the cockpit the radio is virtually impossible to see from pilot head POV, therefore this feature is great and shows Alabeo have thought about user experience.

Summary

Overall I believe that this aircraft is certainly the best aerobatics capable for X-plane, it looks great, its fantastically fun to fly, sounds realistic and functions as you would expect. It is a little touchy on the flight controls but once it's adjusted in X-plane settings the plane feels heavier and more realistic. There are a few issues I found such as the instant rising needle upon start up but apart from that Alabeo have made a great product. The canopy is not operable from inside the cockpit, or it might be but I couldn't find the switch. The only way to move the canopy is by the menu, it can be annoying if you open it and close it a lot. Not a big issue though.

3D modeling and texturing is great, only two liveries by default though, more would be nice. You can however download some from Alabeo's site at no extra cost, and as always you can design your own! (blank livery included). The feature of smoke trails would be great, or if Alabeo don't do it maybe someone else will. It would be great to leave a trail in the X-Plane skies! Multiplayer would be very fun with that addition as well!

Documentation is good, you get the standard from Alabeo however you also get an aerobatics manual. This manual tells you how to perform a variety of maneuvers with pictures to assist the explaining, very nice touch!

This aircraft is great fun to fly and has been modeled and textured with great detail, I certainly recommend it!

This aircraft from VSkyLabs is being updated so fast it is almost requiring a separate monthly column in X-PlaneReviews. Here is the latest in v2.5a (note the 5a) and usually only a few weeks after the last release you wouldn't give an update like this a second glance, but boy there is a lot of really nice goodies in this update and so it is certainly well worth noting.

Images and conditions will be a little murky in this update, but that is for a reason... Yes I also promise I will put the DC-3 into a another livery next time around, but I am still totally in love with the G-AMSY Air Atlantique white and blue colours on the aircraft, so modern on an old airframe.

Rain effects

I am a big lover of really good rain effects. There is nothing more challenging than a stormy night landing with the wipers going and poor visibility, it brings the hairs up high on your neck and not to mention the rising heartbeat...

This effect is heightened even more if the aircraft is old, like with PMDG's DC-6. And rain drops were on the early feature list for the DC-3. So here they are and how good is this.

Sitting on the ramp you can barely see outside and you can now feel the sweat and moisture running down your back in tropical South Florida. It is really well done. The side windows now open as well, but both together, but VSkylabs have noted they will be animated separately in another update.

When set open they do certainly highlight the thickness and density of the old aircraft's glass. Externally it is well done as well, with the same effect visible from the external viewpoint and not just from the usual internal view, which too few developers actually do. With the windows open... the external sounds are higher as well to create that full on engine and wind roar effect in your ears.

With the wipers in operation it is very realistic and the wind effect on the rain as you gather speed is really well done as well.

The effects do change from the dark to brighter wet window a little bit too sharpish and it is noticeable, so the effects are still in the need a little bit more of some fine tuning but overall the rain effects are excellent.

Garmin GNS530

If you look hard at the above images you will see something else that has been added in to the cockpit of the DC-3... a GNS530. There was a GNS530 before but it was only a popup that was activated by pressing the centre of the VOR pointer dial.

Now there are not one but two GNS530 units mounted high centre...

... but seriously how good is this installation. It looks very realistic even on this classic airliner. Left GNS350 is Comm1/VOR1 and the right side is the Comm/2/VOR2 settings and of course they both pop-out as well.

They both fold up neatly as well if you are not using them by pressing the fastening knob on the holding bracket. The compass (top right) in the earlier version v2.1 did jiggle around, but it was a last minute addition and the ends of the mounting bungee cords were not fastened down as the whole apparatus moved around. This has been refined here and is now perfect, with the compass now moving nicely but the rubber cord ends are now securely fastened down to the panel.

3d Yokes

The Yokes have had some attention as well... the centre Douglas logo caps are now in 3d and are nicely rounded and are more authentic in detail.

Systems updates

There has been few changes to the systems and avionics in v2.5a. The CHT and Oil Temp operation/temperatures have had attention and are more correct and so has the Carburetor Air Temp Gauge. The constant Carburetor heating alerts (X-Plane11) were annoying, so this has also had attention, with the Left handle for "locking" (non operational), while the other two are for left/right engines. Full aft position will now be for heating. (this feature is locked off in X-Plane10).

The on board time watch has had a hour needle fix, and a stop watch needle added (red needle) and the OBS knob control has had the manipulators changed.

I (finally) worked out the "EX" side switch (top right) above the wiper switch in that it is "expert mode", this is used in taxiing with the tail-wheel in it being either easy (normal) or hard/realistic in (EX).

Cabin

Internally in the cabin you can now hide the seating...

... this is of course to provide the provision for the coming Cargo version. The doors still don't open which hopefully will come with the cargo version?

External

The biggest new feature externally is the addition of Ski's...

... these Ski's are huge massive heavy duty contraptions, and they are again extremely well done.

The design is well in keeping of the size and weight of the DC-3 aircraft and are really well modeled and fitted well on to the undercarriage of the aircraft.

Lowering and raising of the ski's is done via a box and lever on the pilot's left rear side, it is tricky to use, but just move it and don't force it and it does the rest.

You can fly with the skis on, but with the gear retracted they fit very nicely and snuggly under the engines. There is a drag penalty as well with the skis attached and more wind noise and as these are huge skis then the drag penalty is quite high on your fuel consumption.

Propellers and Gear

Both the propeller hubs in the spinner and the hub are now separated in textures to allow more realistic metallic textures for the bolt and and for the hub itself in separate conditions to heighten realism.

The hubs certainly do look far more realistic andmore polished in their design, a nice touch...

... the undercarriage has had similar attention on the inner wheel textures to photo and realism, and they too look excellent.

The animation of the undercarriage geometry has been revised as well, it does feel a little slower in retracting or extending but it is and feels more authentic, and the whole gear setup is more correct in the extended or retracted positions.

That pretty well covers this excellent v2.5a update and note the 5a version as that is the one to download, with a few last minute fixes completed.

Summary

How quick these updates come along, but boy do you get some great new features and ideas and this new v2.5a certainly doesn't disappoint there.

It doesn't seem like it was only a few months ago the Vskylabs DC-3/C47 was initially released but the development changes are exhausting but exciting in turning this great classic airliner in to what will be a certain X-Plane classic as well.

Great new features include those atmospheric rain effects, great heavy duty skis, installed GNS530, opening side windows and a lot of refinement and system fine tuning. As noted this Vskylabs DC-3 is always an ongoing project and it is purchased as such, but there is no doubt you get a lot of features and aircraft for your money.

The rain effects still need a little more refinement, and I am missing opening doors which I hope will come sooner than later, but otherwise this aircraft is one of my absolute favorites at the moment... I am flying in it everywhere and anytime, you should as well... This DC-3 is just simpy brilliant and already an X-Plane classic.

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Legacy of Liveries Upon MSN 19345

This is related to VskyLab's DC3/C47 aircraft and so the package is well worth noting in this update.

The DC3/C47 only comes with one livery, their own in "VskyLabs". There is however already a great livery selection and paintkit on the X-Plane.Org in a now a dedicated download section : VSKYLABS DC3

But there is nothing like an expert painter in doing justice to the aircraft and more welcome is that it also includes a few currently lacking military (C47) liveries as well.

This is a payware livery package of mostly original artwork for one Canadian aircraft in MSN 19345, but all are of very high quality by Robert W. Heyen or SimSmith. It includes twelve liveries in the package and they are ...

42-100882 USAAF

TS422 RAF RCAF

422 RCAF Training Command

CF-KAZ Keir Air Transport

C-FKAZ Trans Provincial

C-FKAZ Soundair

N5831B IFL Group

N5831B McNeely Air Charter

N5831B John Johnson 2002

N5831B John Johnson 2003

N5831B Dakota Heritage 2004

N473DC Dakota Heritage 2006

Which is a clever history in liveries of one aircraft MSN 19345 throughout its long career.... totally recommended.

And they are well worth adding into your collection for the VSKYLABS DC3/C47.

Note. These liveries are NOT part of the VSKYLABS package as they are a 3rd party addon.

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The DC-3/C47 v2.5a by VSkyLabs Flying Lab Project is NOW available! from theX-Plane.Org Store here :

Highly Realistic Flight Performance DC-3/C-47 Simulation: Highly accurate performance and handling simulation of the DC-3/C-47. Aircraft performance and handling qualities were designed and tested in a "Research level" approach and went through a validation process of more than 200 hours of flight testing and evaluation, made by real world C-47 pilot and aircraft performance expert. This model is stretching X-Plane to its limits in terms of delivering the authentic flying characteristics of the DC-3/C-47

Fully equipped with Radio and Navigation aids: along with a full set of traditional/old school navigation and autopilot systems, it is also equipped with a pop-up G430

Workhorse for practicing DC-3/C-47 pilot skills: Experience authentic flight performance and handling practices (takeoff, landing, single engine operations, flight planning, long range flights and old school navigation). It is a perfect platform to recreate and fly historic routes using authentic performance simulation

Unique look and feel: The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 is a mixture of a simplified yet very engaging design and “feel” of the DC-3/C-47

Systems - easy to operate by beginners: All relevant systems are simulated but with the focus on getting the “Flying Lab” airborne without the need to go through a long “ground school”

FPS friendly

Designed to utilize the “out of the box” features of X-Plane

Additional Features:

Highly responsive support system/forum.

The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 Flying Lab is a project under constant development. All updates are free.

If you have already purchased the DC3/C47 from Vskylabs then just login to your X-Plane.OrgStore and go to your account and download the current v2.5a (note - that you download the 5a revised version!)

Requirements

Minimum System Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 CPU with 2 or more cores, or AMD equivalent.

Only weeks ago, 22nd July 2017 actually I did a full new release review of VSkyLabs Flying Lab Project's DC3/C47. At X-PlaneReviews we do have a lot of new releases and with this year's new X-Plane11 revolution there is a full roll-out of aircraft and scenery that is being updated to the new format as well, so it has all been very busy. In reviews we do the review and unless there is a significant update and then we move on to the next release.

I really loved VSkyLabs project of the DC3/C47, and noted so in the review. But there was at the time a few reservations of the current status of the project. It was really, really great, but and then there was that... but.

In a few areas there was a feeling that it could have better in its release form, I thought about this for some time as the hardest points in any new release is the objectivity of a reviewer, over harsh and the developer can lose sales, but too lenient and the punter who is putting down the cash will not be impressed... so it is a very fine line. You do as a reviewer have more background evidence and your extensive knowledge to make the right call. The case for the VSkyLabs DC3 was correct for the time as was a cheaper entry price of US$19.95, which was the right price at the time as well.

But two things unusually happened with this aircraft. One, I found myself in my spare time flying the DC3 extensively, even getting lost over the North Sea and nearly running out of fuel... I will come back to that one later. Two, was VSkyLabs hammered out updates like chickens pops out eggs. The result was this very quick update to v2.1 and for one of the most already wanted and in demand, loved aircraft in X-Plane this year.

VSkyLabs Douglas DC3/C47 v2.1

My very first initial view of the release VSkyLabs DC3 was actually a groan... This is 2017 and the aircraft looked like it was from the X-Plane9 dark ages. Normal mapping creates that raised surfaces or 3d look on the aircraft's surfaces and here there was none. So the very first priority was to fix the aircraft's maps. This was done by Oleg Tronov who has also created an official paint kit for the DC3. The results are well... spectacular!

Rivet... Rivet... Rivet, you feel like a beaver creating bodywork going at it full thrust, but just look at all those amazing rivets, panel lines and saw edges... you have gotta love it. Now that is a 2017 X-Plane11 looking DC3.

The other poor performance on the release version was the liveries, but that has also changed now big buckets as well and mostly thanks to Arcticpilot and his great work... (Metallic VskyLab's is now the new default livery)

The older "Flightgear Liveries" don't work anymore with the new metallic base and mapping, but I have persevered with the lovely Air Atlantique livery as it looks excellent and it is a more modern livery, but sorry I don't have permission to distribute it and it is still a work in progress, but you can have a go on the original if you want to from flightgear.

FMOD Sounds

Sounds originally included were not actually not that bad, but that has all been swept away with the intergration of the FMOD sound engine, and all round the sounds are now excellent. New 3d directional sounds include:

Engines and Props with multiple layers for various rpm and distance from the engines.

Engine startup and post startup low rpm sounds.

Switches and knobs.

Gyro instruments, Booster pumps.

Gears, Flaps.

Ambiance (wind) and turbulence during normal flight.

Ground roll, tire screech.

Vocal Annunciation for mixture control (auto rich, auto lean).

Vocal Annunciation for tail wheel (locked, unlocked).

Vocal Annunciation for autopilot (engaged/disengaged).

Overhead Electric fans.

Good? no brilliant, it shows with just the addition of 3d sounds on how quickly you can elevate an aircraft to excellent from just the very good. More sounds are promised but a few areas are counteracted by the XPRealistic plugin I am running here (Highly recommended for this aircraft).

Cockpit

In the cockpit there has been a lot of changes. The basics in the instrument panel though are all the same, but there are a lot of very nice new additions and fixes.

The pop up GNS GPS unit has been upgraded to the GNS530 up from the GNS 430 for a bigger screen to use, the popup is still activated by pressing the centre of the VOR pointer dial.

The centre mounted magnetic compass has also been mounted on rubber-wires, it does also move around and looks excellent, but the idea is not finished yet as the way the animation works is that the connection ends move as well? But VskyLab's have noted this will be worked on more to get a better result.

Added animated fans are a welcome relief from the hot cockpit, they can be a bit distracting when the going gets tough, but a desk mounted fan is certainly advisable if you want the full wind in your face effect. Wipers are now correct in sweeping to the centre and not left-right, and FMOD wiper sounds heighten the effect for more realism.

Wipers feel very realistic when battling low visibility on Norway's west coast!

Emergency Escape hatch has been added to the cockpit roof, it is noted that in the future it will be functional, if you want to bail out?

Speakers have been added into the roof on each side, which is another nice touch.

The patterned wall cladding has been updated to a better quality feel as well, looks and feels far more realistic than the original cladding. Other fine tuning notes in the cockpit are the Seat, Yokes and Pedals have been fine-tune to fix minor alignment issues, added in a co-pilot comm box for right seat operations (I bet you didn't notice it was missing?) and the added in two radio-microphones.

Cabin

Another area that was average in the release aircraft was the silly stilted thin cabin passenger seats. Again there are now more detailed and thankfully wider seats for the passengers, I still think they could be a little wider, but they are certainly a big if huge step forward.

You can expect a few nice variations of the cabin as already ArcticPilot has put out a very nice Icelandair version for his Icelandair livery. I myself has adjusted the cabin for my Air Atlantique livery, with a blue seat cover from ArcticPilots version (Thanks), instead of the odd coloured Buffalo Airways coverings.

VskyLab's has already noted there is more to come yet in the cabin in the next version. The doors however still don't open, but the fuselage has been cut, ready so expect them sometime in the future. A full and more modern FMS is promised as well, but I really love the Sperry Type A-3A autopilot already installed so I am personally not too fussed.

Flying the updated v2.1 DC3/C47

I have become a little addicted to this aircraft, as you should with any great aircraft in X-Plane. In my mind if you are always going to say "I'll give give that aircraft a go" then there is something special going on and the return of the experience from the simulation then fill's in the rest. So many things contribute to a great simulation, but aircraft feedback and the challenge of flying the machine is part of the fulfilment factor.

The original release did feel a little unfinished, but then this is an ongoing project. This version is certainly more like what the release version should have been, and it feels far, far more complete.

One area to note is the fuel tanks. On the original you emptied the main tanks and then the Aux would then empty, but not by switching them over? In a quirk in X-Plane you can't do this so you drain the main and then automatically switch to the backup tanks. This caught me out while flying from ENBR - Bergen to EGCC - Manchester as I almost emptied the main tanks but just thought I could switch over to the Aux as you do... My position was that well over the North Sea I was suddenly running out of fuel? Switching them over ran an engine dry? so I had to divert to EFPH - Edinburgh on what I thought was the last drips of fuel, but landed still with my Aux tanks brimming full. The tanks have been changed in v2.1 to drain ALL tanks at the same time, which personally I still wish we could have done a real tank to tank switch, but there you go... Manchester thankfully will certainly be in range now.

Tank switches are on the top of the pedestal and the tank fuel gauge can be switched on the panel lower co-pilot's side, it is a shame you can't use them.

The old bird is tricky to fly, first this old badger is a taildragger, but the aircraft is heavy as well. Plenty of power just gets it moving and then it is going too fast once you are, so you have to find that throttle balance, instruments are old, so they can be hard to interpret sometimes and at critical times in poor weather you can lose where you are in the balance.

But poor weather condition brings the aircraft alive as well, so that is the challenge and why the DC3 is so renowned in getting in there and getting out again into areas that normal aircraft just can't fly around.

The aircraft's wing lights in v2.1 have been adjusted and are far brighter now and more workable, they were pretty feeble in the original version.

Approach speeds are tricky, you need a little speed, but flap use is restricted to below 115mph, so you are losing, losing speed all the time in trying to get the speed lower to get that flap lift of the use of the lower speed of 80mph. You work it out, but you work for it as well... who said flying was easy?

Crosswinds cause you havoc, if you are not using a lot of full rudder then you will not fly a DC3 correctly, trimming the tail straight before dropping down on to the tail-wheel is an art form you have to master.

So flying this bird is going to test your skills, but that is the idea right, fly hard and get the job done.

You can sit for hours just looking at it...

Summary

The obvious question comes up here in that was this DC3/C47 by VskyLabs released before it should have been. It is a fair point and in a way the answer is yes as my original review reflected, an ongoing project is still an an ongoing project, but this is 2017 and the entry standard into X-Plane lately is now high.

Certainly the special early release price of US$19.95 is going to have a lot of the early punters smiling with this significant update. The aircraft was saved overall because the earlier basics are so good, but now you are still getting a real absolute bargain even at the new US$24.95 price so five dollars here and there is only a decent cup of coffee.

But that $5 is getting you a far, far better and more rounded aircraft. The changes here with that excellent normal mapping, far better quality liveries and better cabin seating are well worth the extra admission price alone.... and we are not finished yet here either, as VskyLabs has a list as long as your arm in coming features and detailing and the announced Freight/Cargo version.

Another significant point is the response time in getting the aircraft to v2.1. The sign of a good if great developer is to listen to feedback and delivers, and here VskyLabs certainly delivered and quickly and you can't fault that, you certainly can't expect the rollout and changes to keep coming at this pace either because that is not realistic, but you can be confident that this DC3/C47 is already going to be one of the really must haves in X-Plane, it is an exciting project that continues... but for now with this excellent v2.1 update of the aircraft is already right now a great aircraft to totally enjoy in flying one of the really great classic airlines of aviation history.... a must have!

Highly Realistic Flight Performance DC-3/C-47 Simulation: Highly accurate performance and handling simulation of the DC-3/C-47. Aircraft performance and handling qualities were designed and tested in a "Research level" approach and went through a validation process of more than 200 hours of flight testing and evaluation, made by real world C-47 pilot and aircraft performance expert. This model is stretching X-Plane to its limits in terms of delivering the authentic flying characteristics of the DC-3/C-47

Fully equipped with Radio and Navigation aids: along with a full set of traditional/old school navigation and autopilot systems, it is also equipped with a pop-up G430

Workhorse for practicing DC-3/C-47 pilot skills: Experience authentic flight performance and handling practices (takeoff, landing, single engine operations, flight planning, long range flights and old school navigation). It is a perfect platform to recreate and fly historic routes using authentic performance simulation

Unique look and feel: The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 is a mixture of a simplified yet very engaging design and “feel” of the DC-3/C-47

Systems - easy to operate by beginners: All relevant systems are simulated but with the focus on getting the “Flying Lab” airborne without the need to go through a long “ground school”

FPS friendly

Designed to utilize the “out of the box” features of X-Plane

Additional Features:

Highly responsive support system/forum.

The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 Flying Lab is a project under constant development. All updates are free.

Requirements

Minimum System Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 CPU with 2 or more cores, or AMD equivalent.

There was a time when you went to a field, yes only a green grass field, you climbed into a machine and flew to another green field at your destination. There was no carparking, no security, no scanners, no food courts, no flight boards, no wifi, no boarding gates, no airbridges, no taxi holding, no waiting in line to takeoff, no holding patterns, all you did was pass over your bags and got into an aircraft and flew in the air... it was the first "Golden age of Air Travel".

It was impossibly dangerous as well? The machines were to say very are very basic, flying was rough, noisy and the chances of you crashing in bad weather were very high... but it was all very exciting as well.

These were first all metal aircraft after the earlier even more dangerous fabric and wire designs. The all metal construction was pioneered by a German called Professor Hugo Junkers with his Junkers J1. Clever advanced manufacturing in control surfaces (ailerons, elevators, and rudders) which were not now fabric-covered, but they were also made of corrugated metal in making airframes strong but light.

These basic principles were the picked up by an American called William Bushnell Stout who adapted an airframe very similar to Junkers single-engined Fokker F.VII and even then still using the same airfoil cross section at the wing root. But Stout required investment to further his designs and his company. And so he asked for shares to create a new aircraft company In the early 1920s called Stout Metal Airplane Company.

Henry Ford, along with a group of 19 other investors including his son Edsel, invested in the new company and very quickly in 1925 bought out the company lock stock and barrel and then Henry Ford also had an aircraft manufacturing company as well as his car company.

The result was the single-engined Stout monoplane which was then turned into a trimotor, the Stout 3-AT with three Curtiss-Wright air-cooled radial engines, and it flew for the first time June 11th, 1926. The original (commercial production) 4-AT had three air-cooled Wright radial engines. It carried a crew of three: a pilot, a copilot, and a stewardess, as well as eight or nine passengers .The later 5-AT had more powerful 420-hp (320-kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial piston engines, accommodation for two pilots, a stewardess and now 13 passengers, the wingspan was increased by 3 ft 10 in (1.17 m).

Success for the aircraft was immediate, The Tri-Motor now nicknamed the "Tin Goose" was cheap ($42,000 in 1933 which is about $736,000 in 2013), strong and reliable and that was all you required to start an airline service. Just under 200 were built as aircraft design advanced very quickly and the stalwart DC2 and Boeing's 274 suddenly became the aircraft to have.

In July of 1929, Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) then inaugurated “coast to coast” air/rail service. This was a route developed by Charles Lindbergh, and passengers could cross the country in 48 hours travelling by rail at night and Tri-Motor by day. TAT would later become TWA and soon inaugurate all-air service from coast to coast. and many other American airlines emerged with the Tri-Motor like American Airlines, United Airlines and Pan American Airlines flew and also created significant routes like Miami to Cuba under the wings of this aircraft. And many aircraft were used by the military as well as C-3 and C4A's. You also have to understand how much Ford and this aircraft helped in introducing many aspects of the modern aviation infrastructure, including paved runways, passenger terminals, hangars, airmail, and radio navigation, he created the airport from the field innovation.

More so that on November 27th and 28th, 1929, Commander Richard E. Byrd (navigator), chief pilot Bernt Balchen, and two other crewmen, the copilot and the photographer, made the first flight above the geographic South Pole in a Ford Trimotor that Byrd named the Floyd Bennett.

Significantly many Tri-Motors still survive today, 18 are still in existence and eight are still airworthy and one of the most famous was the Scenic Airways Ford Trimotor N414H which was used for 65 years as a sightseeing aircraft flying over the Grand Canyon.

Sadly these few if great aircraft was Henry Ford's first and last foray into personal aircraft production but the Tri-Motor was not to be Ford's last venture in aircraft production. During World War II, the largest aircraft manufacturing plant in the world was built at the Willow Run, at his Michigan plant, where Ford produced thousands of B-24 Liberator bombers under license from Consolidated Aircraft.

Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT

One of the most brilliant things in simulation is you get the chance to enjoy these great pioneering aircraft. I loved VSKYLABS amazing DC-3 only a short time ago (and still fly it regularly) and now here is the famous "The Tin Goose".

Overall the modeling is not bad, the Fokker style corrugated surfaces and the metal wings are faithfully reproduced, but all surfaces are more in a light grey and not in the silver, silver metallic look you would expect.

You have to be aware of how basic these aircraft really where, although advanced for their day, they are at their heart a very simple machine with just the very basic items required for flight.

Nice highlight is the metal cowling around the rear of the front engine. The Wasp radial piston engines R-1340 which was a nine cylinder, air-cooled, radial piston engine with 1,340 cubic inches of displacement (hence R-1340).

Engine detailing is very good, and important on an aircraft of this era. The intricate inlet and exhaust outlet valves cover mostly the air-cooled inner cylinders (think Volkswagen air-cooled engines) and the exhaust manifolds are connected to a circular exhaust exiting under the airframe with the front engine and to the side on the outer engines. They look very fragile today, but they were more solid and reliable than they looked, only strange thing is the outer engine cowlings on some liveries have a tendency to go transparent from some visual angles?

The double-spoon like "Standard" propellers and don't twist for feathering, they are well done and look authentic.

Another note to this era is the external wire or cable pulley system to the control surfaces, the front cable is the rudder and the rear is the elevator.

It does look extremely fragile and a primitive way of flying the aircraft, but even fast jets and airliners used this system only to a few decades ago, only you didn't see the cables exposed like you do here. They are fascinating to operate and watch in action.

Front undercarriage is solid, with the huge balloon tyres do most of the suspension work. Modeling is good, solid without being exceptional.

Rear passenger door opens, but only from the inside. You can use F keys to open and close four items including the rear door Shift F1, internal bathroom door Shift F4 and two strange ways to carry your suitcases... in the wings?

Press Shift F2 to open the right side luggage rack to drop down from the wing, or Shift F3 for the left rack... all animations can be set with the sliders as well.

There is no static elements or external features, menus are not provided either.

Cockpit

The cockpit is beyond weird! Part airship, part car and part battleship and a bit of WW2 bomber thrown in for good measure.

No yoke or joysticks here, just a hybrid wheel and left over Ford Model A parts. The four on the floor is your hand-operated "Johnny brake" or Johnson Brake.

The control system is very basic as both yokes are mounted on a single crossbar, forward and back in your pitch and turn the wheel for bank.

Instrument panel is basic. Centre instruments covers air speed (MPH) top, then three instruments covering Altitude, Turn Rate (bank) and Pitch (Climb/Descend) in 1000ft markers. Lower panel is a clock and AMP gauge, and that is it. Far left is a basic COMM 1&2, NAV 1&2 and ADF 1&2 radio with a transponder set below.

Right panel is the engine readouts for RPM and the temperatures for the Engine and Oil. But these dials are only for the front engine? If you want the RPM and Temperatures for either the left or right engines, you have to look out at the particular engine strut as the dials are located out there.

An early style of pedestal has the lovely three throttle levers set up on top. Lower front are the three engine start switches and ignition, lower pedestal is the mixture with RICH and LEAN. A lower lever is for the front engine carburettor heat.

Electrical switches are under the co-pilot's seat? Including the Master, GEN (generator) and Position (Navigation), Landing Lights.

There is case behind the co-pilot's seat that if pressed will bring up a GNS430 at the top of the main window strut, it is very small but can be opened in a window for use.

Cabin

Think old fashioned Wild West Railroad and you will understand the design of the Tri-Motor's cabin.

Wicker chairs and simulated gas lighting is so very far removed from Boeing latest LED mood lighting, I don't know if I could sit in them flying for hours of a time, but the seat pitch is brilliant! The curtain design is simply awful, flat, looks more like wood than fabric and not very realistic?

But the cabin window view is excellent, and in these slow, low altitude aircraft the views must have been heavenly is noisy.

There is a bathroom in the rear, with a full sink and toilet... Again toilet space you can dream of today, you can actually turn around in there...

Overall the cabin was quite dark, it is very hard to get any light into the internal areas of the aircraft

Flying the Tin Goose

Starting these old radial Wasp's is a bit of fun, until they don't start. Like anything with carburettors you have to be patient and get the mixture and throttle positions correct. Part of the problem is in X-Plane that you have to lock in your throttles in together, as you can't assign an left or right throttle to each engine, so the throttle position is the same for every one of the three engines.

So it is mixture RICH, unless you over flood those carburettors, then throttle to about a third. Then you have to primer pump the engine (three strokes) then turn the particular engine's Magneto IGNITION switch to start... Then pray!

That is starting the centre front engine, but what of the other left and right engines?

Well the engine primers and carburettor heat is up high behind you on the bulkhead?

Also up here is the fuel tank switches, fuel tank gauges and elevator trim controls... yes you have to physically get out of your seat to set the aircraft's

trim? In X-Plane we can get around that by having a pop-up screen with those controls, switches and dials, in this case you press the button on the panel for it to open.

The tailwheel is locked so the Tri-Motor is easy to taxi, but it is hard to see out of, I had a habit of taxiing too close to one side of the taxiway...

The pilot's and co-pilot's side windows open, in the real aircraft it would be easier to stick you head out to taxi... but this is X-Plane.

You have to use the throttle slowly to get away as this is taildragger and getting the air around the ruder for control, but there is far more power than you expected and the Tri-Motor is more faster and less lumbersome than you expect it to be. Again I still held my takeoff run too far to the left?

The Tri-Motor is certainly a more feel than instrument aircraft, in fact you barely look at the instruments, except for the vertical pitch guide. Takeoff is around an easy 95mph.

There are no flaps to set, in fact nothing at all but put up the power and fly...

You never really get used to that heavy battleship wheelhouse feel in the cockpit, it is weird!

Climb is just under 1000fpm at 950fpm, which is very good for an old aircraft and you settle down at a top speed 135 mph and with a cruising Speed 115 mph. Your range is an impressive 510 miles (normal), 650 miles (maximum/ferry) and you can climb as high as 17,000ft with a ceiling at 18,500ft which is highly impressive.

You must switch the fuel tanks via the pop-up screen and not the real bulkhead switches for you to get the transfer, and obviously setting the trim up there is hard, or interesting depending on the way you do it.

Overall though the Tri-Motor is not an hard aircraft to fly... it is very basic with a basic sort of semi-heavy aircraft feel, so don't think you need any special flying skill's to fly an aircraft this old... because you don't

Sound is FMOD, so they are modern and not bad, nice aspect is you feel the bass and thrumming of the radial engines, so there is nice comforting noise as you thump your way through the air. Autopilot... "get outta here"... Your it mate!

So correct trimming of the aircraft will take away a lot of the hard work at the yoke except to point it where and which way you want to fly.

So the feel is nice, if like I say basic. In landing you don't have any aids or flaps, so it is strictly stick and rudder stuff. Landing is a little tricky in seeing the runway with that all heavy metalwork around you and in your line of sight.

Stall is around 64mph, so an approach is usually around 95mph to say just under 80mph on landing. There are no reversers or airbrakes, and you can't hit the brakes either unless you want to flip the aircraft end over end...

So you have to run the speed off as much as you can while steering the aircraft straight, which is slightly harder than said. Eventually the Tri-Motor will settle and you can taxi off the runway with now a slight touch of the brakes. Landing on a grass runway does help a little more in running off the speed more quicker, but most will still land on the harder surfaces.

Lighting

The internal lighting is about as basic as you can get. The dials on the panel faintly glow in the dark, but you can adjust the overhead lighting via a panel knob to give you some more light to read the instruments, but overall this would not be an aircraft that would have been flown at night.

The cabin looks like it is lit by candles in a horror ghost haunted house film, dim and dimmer.

External lighting is again basic. Two good wing landing lights help, but otherwise there are just three position lights (navigation) and no strobes.

What you get here is a transport, a transport in time to another era of when airline operations where in their infancy, the start of a new era and one that will in time totally change the world.

The flying was completely different as well. These aircraft are very basic, they function as only flying machines, and there are simply no gimmicks or flying aids. The Tri-Motor is just a simple flying machine pure and simple.

The modeling is fine, just as you don't want anything too deep and classical, ditto that on mostly everything here. There are no menu's, or standout features except for a few pop-up's and a really not needed GNS430.

Sounds are pretty good and the handling is quite good as well, so everything in here is not too deep or throughtful, but just a plain but old aircraft.

But the Ford Tri-Motor is an interesting aircraft, one you can enjoy and if you want something special to coexist with from the same period then download the "1940s Lighted Airways" feature on the X-Plane.Org... these are a replication of the early navigation towers and their position along the early flight routes that these Tri-Motors flew along with, so you will be able to live out a bit of history as well as also learning of this bygone era... well worth the download...

So lately with the excellent VSKYLABS DC-3 and now this Ford Tri-Motor, you can fly and enjoy a different era, I enjoyed it immensely as this aircraft was a simple quick ticket to the early past of aviation's glory years.

A pop-up to control co-pilot functions and give quick readout of engine-mounted gauges

A portable Garmin 430 can be mounted in the cockpit if modern flying is desired

Documentation

POH manual

timetables for TAT and TWA 'Coast to Coast Service'. Pilot the Tri-Motor on the routes planned out by Charles Lindbergh for the first coast to coast air service in the United States. Recreate these epic flights and enjoy the Golden Age of Aviation with the Ford Tri-Motor, one of the most significant aircraft in history.

What marks the ultimate in greatness. In most cases it is something or someone that has had an significant impact and has created enough of a shift in the way the whole world works or lives. In the case of aviation the impact it was total. From the destruction of distance, time and even the cost of moving around the planet can not be challenged in any shape or form. But like most brilliant inventions the changes that we take for granted today are usually in steps, and some steps are small but important, but some are huge and changes almost everything in the way we used movement and in the way you traveled before that introduction of absolute change.

In modern thinking you could say the same about the before and after the iPhone and the effects on the way we communicate. We are today too far removed from the changes of aviation in its formation years between the World Wars, but the effects from that era are all around us every time we go to an airport and fly.

In the area of greatness then that title has been lavished onto the DC-3 or Douglas Commercial 3. The aircraft was one of the greatest machines to have ever been built, but the reality could have been different. In truth only 607 DC-3's were ever built and the aircraft was already in line to be superseded except for the insertion of the Second World War. The military need aircraft, in fact thousands of them and they needed to be reliable, fast (in 2WW terms) and mostly cheap and quick to produce. So the DC-3 became the C47 Skytrain and over the course of the war they manufactured 16,000 of these Goony Birds. War time surplus demands then put a huge majority of these cheap flying aircraft on the market and the rest as they say is history.

Even in innovation it was the DC-2 that was the innovation aircraft in being an all metal aircraft with a tapered wing, retractable landing gear, and two 690 hp (515 kW) Wright radial engines driving variable-pitch propellers. It seated 12 passengers. The DC-1 was in reality just a development prototype aircraft and only one was actually built. The DC-3 was just an upgraded version of the DC-2 with 21 passenger seats, 1,100-horsepower (820 kW) Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines but also filled in that sweet niche point of making and in creating RPT airline routes (now known as regional) profitable.

So you have cheap to buy, fast at 200 knts (370 km/h (230 mph) at 8,500 ft (2,590 m)) with a cruise speed of 180 knts (333 km/h (207 mph)), cheap to run and bingo you had an airline. Beyond just the obvious the DC-3's claim to ultimate greatness was simply reliability. These strong tough wartime birds would simply keep on flying no matter what you threw at them, pilots loved them and the rest is history.

Incredibly even after eighty years since they first flew there are operators with 2,000 DC-3s still in revenue service and as many converted as cargo aircraft. But most DC-3's today are now either in restoration or flying around at air shows.

The oldest current DC-3 still flying is the original American Airlines Flagship Detroit (c/n 1920, the 43rd aircraft off the Santa Monica production line and delivered on March 2, 1937), which can still be seen at airshows around the United States and is owned and operated by the nonprofit Flagship Detroit Foundation.

VSkyLabs Douglas DC-3 "Flying Lab Project"

Vskylabs have been around for a few years. There are not in a general sense full developers, but more of a an older style X-Plane community that loves aircraft in all their shapes and forms. So their output is very varied, mostly cheap but interesting aircraft like the Tecnam P2006T Project, Phoenix S-LSA Project, Hang Glider Project and the Autogyro Project and many more. But note the word "Project" behind every aircraft.

As noted most developers develop aircraft for X-Plane for income, a few do it for the love of aircraft per-se. But Vskylabs create projects of aircraft that you can invest in. They are built to a price and are not developed to the high end degrees of detailing and systems, yes Vskylabs do create interesting aircraft but not to the so called "Study" depth of simulation. This background is important to note when reading the review below, the aircraft is an ongoing project and there is more to come as it is developed out more, but it is important to note that the aircraft is certainly developed as to a current fine flying state, and so most of the on going development is more in the detailing and filling in areas than the main systems and flying performance, and it is priced accordingly in that category.

The aircraft comes in the now famous "Buffalo Airways" livery from the "Ice Pilots NWT" TV series run by Joe McBryan (aka "Buffalo Joe").

External modeling is very good, but does not have extreme detailing that comes with say a Carenado. One reason is that the liveries are not created in house but are used from "Flightgear Liveries" and are flightsim textures and not X-Plane art. They are 4k or 4096px x 4096px in size but the quality is noticeable. More liveries are available, but you will have to adjust them yourself to fit, in saying that the effort is worth it as they can look actually quite good in X-Plane11 considering their heritage, and I show a few converted liveries at the end of this review. They are freeware Flight Gear DC-3 liveries and they are under a GPL licence, which means you can adjust them but you have to acknowledge the source. There is also paintkit also available, but it will be interesting to see if any of our great artists can up the game for this DC-3, in fact one for Lufthansa has already been released. The Buffalo livery has been more extensively modified by Vskylabs and is now part of the project with permission from flightgear

But there is no doubt this bird looks great, certainly in the great light of X-Plane11. X-Plane10 is also available as well but you will not get those great lighting reflections you see here.

You don't get a load of intimate riveting and panel detail, there are some really very nice detailing work where required. The engine cowling and the internal detailing of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engines looks magnificent, but the highlight here is the lovely chrome prop spinner.

The undercarriage is also well detailed, I would have really expected a bit more grease and wear and tear, but otherwise the struts look good. The retraction animation is very good as well as the gear goes up slowly into its bay, or extracts easily down for landing.

There are no menus or ground elements with this DC-3, and the doors don't open either, which would have been a great feature and certainly in it's current cargo role.

But the old bird does look great on the ramp, it is a DC-3 and DC-3's are a very unique aircraft.

Cockpit and Cabin

Internally the Vskylabs DC-3 is quite good. The textures are in places a little average in resolution and so slightly blurred, but otherwise it is well done.

This aircraft is from the 1930's in technology, and so panels with instruments mounted on them is par of the course.

It is all straight forward in that there is no detailed wear and tear or worn levers and yokes, which would have added in a bit more period authenticity, but it is well done and you feel the age of the aircraft from the flying position and in the way you access the controls.

A highlight is the aircraft's glass. The windows are aged worn and feel great when looking through them in an authentic way, a bit of poor weather highlight's their old faded transparency... I like them a lot.

In the cabin is is pretty much in the same vein with average textures and seats that look too small, certainly in the width.

For all the ages then aircraft back then had a lot of seating width within reason, more like the luxury trains of the same era, and nothing like the tight pitch of today. The DC-3 could be four seats abreast, so a three abreast like here would give you a lot space to play with, remember there was no aisle carts either back then to bang up and down the aisle between the seats.

Again the faded windows are great as are the fancy red curtains, there was no overhead lockers then either but instead shelving for pillows and hand baggage.

Instrument Panel

You can see why these aircraft were so highly regarded as their instrumentation is very good even by modern standards. Not in the glass cockpit sort of fit-out, but any good GA is not that dissimilar to the familiar layout viewed here. You can click on the base of the pilot's yoke to make both of them disappear, which is a great feature as they do hide the rate of turn instrument and even a little bit of the rate of climb instrument as well.

It is a slightly odd feeling of finding the right perspective of looking out of the high windows and wanting all of the instruments in view as you can't have both. None of the standard six can be in view unless you change your perspective quite significantly as they are positioned well down the panel, and then in perspective they look odd in that fishbowl look. So viewing up and down will take a bit of practise in the way you fly the aircraft and setting up for landings via the instruments does mean a limited view out of the windows, so you can only have one view or the other.

Instruments are highly reflective as well. Maybe too reflective in some conditions, but I would far rather have the feature than not. All the instrument are huge, large and easy to read... no squinting in here to read anything.

Standard Six instruments are low set for the flying pilot but with a different set of instruments set high for the Co-Pilot. On the left is the Airspeed Indicator, Attitude Indicator and the Artificial Horizon on the top row and the Radial compass (heading), Turn Coordinator and Vertical Speed Indicators set out directly below. Left of the six pack is a clock and top of the panel center is an Omni Bearing Selector, or OBS and to the right a VOR 1&2/ADF 1&2 pointer. On the panel's far left is your flap position indicator, it is basic but easy to see.

For the co-pilot there is only the Airspeed Indicator and Altitude Indicator with the free air temperature gauge between them. Second row has the (both engines) Oil temperatures, Cylinder temperatures and Carburettor Temperatures. Lower row has fuel gauge (switchable), hydraulic Pressure and De-Icing pressure.

Centre panel is the Sperry Type A-3A autopilot, which we will cover more in the air. And below four gauges covering (both engines) Oil Pressure, R.P.M, Fuel Pressure and Man (Manifold Pressure).

There are two overhead panels with one over each of the pilots upper left and right.

Pilot's left side covers all the aircraft's power, external, panel lighting and de-icing switches, with a big red left propeller feather button.

The right side panel covers L-GEN and R-GEN (Generator) switches and Carburettor de-icer. The red right propeller feather button and the main external aircraft navigation lighting, the co-pilot's instrument lighting switch is here as well.

Overhead centre is lower the two engine ignition switches and above the radio panel to cover your COM 1&2, NAV 1&2 and ADF 1&2 frequencies. Also here is the DME-A and DME-B (Distance Measuring Equipment) and ATC frequencies (ATC is the aircraft's Transponder).

On the co-pilot's side wall are two sets of instruments covering with gauges Landing Gear pressure and Hydraulic System pressure. There is another panel for two switches that operate the engine cowling (cooling) positions from open to close.

You can also use the X-Plane default GNS430 GPS system by pressing the VOR pointer dial and you can still set your COM1 and VOR1 frequencies here as well.

Pedestal

Central pedestal is a lovely bit of gear. Like the nice thin metal yokes you get the full vintage long lever feel that covers both engines in P-Propeller, T-Throttle and M-Mixture. The mixture levers have two zones that you can pre-select either Auto-Rich or Auto-Lean like on the real DC-3. The main switchable fuel tank switches in MAIN or AUX are on either side of the levers.

On the left of the pedestal is the main trim wheel (very nice) and the Aileron and Rudder trim wind handles are on the lower front of the pedestal. Two other items here cover the "Autopilot" on/off switch and the tailwheel lock lever.

Park brake is just a small pull switch hidden low on the front of the pedestal (arrowed), and difficult to use. As are also both the undercarriage gear lever (lower) and the longer (higher) flap levers on the rear right side of the cockpit, I have all these three items set on my joystick/throttle system, so it wasn't an issue, but if you want to use any of the three manually it does mean taking your eyes and hands a long off the all important flying matters...

... they would all be easy to use in a real world sense, but in a 3d virtual cockpit you would have to have a different solution.

Flying the DC-3/C47

This aircraft is not a study sim, so you won't be put through all the pain of starting those old tired cantankerous Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines. This point is a debatable one in either you want a complete realism simulation, but too many then starting these old style aircraft can be more frustrating than the fun aspect of the flying. Starting engines on many simulated aircraft can be an absolute painful experience, but it depends on how you want to approach realism. Here it does help to use XPRealistic Pro by rk Apps and their realism effects. Set up correctly it does at least give you some more general feel and shudder to create a more realistic environment around such older style aircraft, in reality this app should be part of the deal with the aircraft, but on start up it does create an excellent prop shudder and running effects.

I have flown in a DC-3 and even if it was a $50 joyride, but it was a sensational ride that you never forget if you love aviation. It is noisy, bumpy but the aircraft does sort of come alive around you as a living breathing machine that is quite unlike modern era aircraft.

Old taildragger hands will do the deal and fly the aircraft with the tailwheel loose. It is a trick to do, but using a twin-throttle arrangement does allow you to do that... but it is not easy.

I have mastered it.... to a point, but when it lets loose it just goes...

So a sort of sanity does and has to prevail. A flip of the tailwheel lock on the front of the pedestal will make the tailwheel behave to the laws of X-Plane and you can control it with the yaw aspect, in other words taxi where you want to go and not where the tailwheel wants you to go. Certainly a major miff from the diehards, but I feel the X-Plane freewheeling tailwheel is not right either in it's actions, I never see tailwheel's go opposite rearwards when taxiing straight ahead on real aircraft but it does here, so it is bit of both. Anyway the tailwheel has to be locked for any takeoff or landing, keeping it unlocked will certainly mean a crash.

The view forward is very restricted, but that is part of the fun, not so much fun is that you can't see your instruments, so there is a bit of guessing going on on speeds, experts say it is normal, you just know and feel on what the aircraft is doing where and what.

It is very easily if touching the controls manually to select the wrong levers? It is the P-Propeller and not the T-Throttle levers that comes to hand easily as the throttle levers are in centre here and not to the par de course to the left, so you have to look to make sure you are pushing up the correct ones, personally though as I am using a twin-throttle system it is not an issue, but I did try the manual operation and had to check to see if I was doing it right, again a twin-throttle system is great for keeping the old bird straight on the runway, certainly if there is a bit of a crosswind.

Tail lifts quite easily at around 60mph and that helps the view, but with that tail hanging out back there then needs some fine rudder control to keep it aligned straight. Thankfully at only 110mph you are airborne.

Undercarriage animation as noted is excellent, as one wheel assembly will be slightly behind the retraction of the other wheel for authenticity.

The DC-3 has a climb rate of 1,130 ft/min but you keep it around a 1,000 ft/min as so not to strain the Wasps, but she will climb and with no fuss or loss of speed. Total ceiling is around 23,000ft (7,100 m) but I will climb only to 8,500ft for this trip.

If you are familiar with PMDG's DC-6 you will find it easy in here. The same conditions count with the first important issue which is to fully trim the aircraft. As you know on the DC-6 it is a far more easier aircraft to fly than to fight it, if the trim is wrong. And so it is in this DC aircraft as well.

Second is when you have trimmed the aircraft is too manoeuvre the aircraft to a clean and level flight, and trim again if you have to.

The Sperry Type A-3A autopilot is about as basic as you can expect it to be. This is not a complicated in depth system, and in fact all it does is adjust the basic flying surfaces to your settings.

It is activated by the switch on the lower front of the pedestal. And like previously mentioned the aircraft has to be steady, ready and trimmed to accept it.

Three dials in RUD (Rudder), AIL (Aileron) and ELE (Elevation) will adjust your flying surfaces, in reality it is just a trim function but one that you can control easier. Turn the ELE and you will see your yoke go towards you to climb, same movement in forward to descend. AIL will bank the aircraft to a new heading and so on. It works quite nicely but you have to watch your instruments in that you are going in the right direction and not slightly banking towards another one. Overall it take the strain out of holding the controls for long periods of time. The DC-3 has a range of 1,500 mi or 2,400 km (1,346nm), which is very impressive, but in most cases around 400 to 500nm is usually the go. Note the built in excellent gyro bank and climb instruments, and they work as real too.

This is vintage flying. You are certainly not going to get anywhere very fast, but there is a sort of trundling along with the engines pounding away on mostly on all cylinders in the background, the excellent XPRealistic Pro giving the old bulkheads and window frames a constant shake and everything feels quite nice with the world.

Sounds are not to bad actually, but VSkyLabs has noted that FMOD sounds are coming soon (to X-Plane11) and that will be certainly a great addition to the all round aural experience.

Could this be called "Classic" flying, I think so as the world sorts of moves by rather than flies by under the aircraft and at only being 8500ft up you get to see a lot more of the landscape. If you are familiar with PMDG's DC-6 you will understand most of the actions here also, so you will feel quite at home in either aircraft, the DC-3 is certainly easier to fly than the bigger DC-6, but feeling is the same.

The DC-3 is known as a pilot's, pilot's aircraft. And I can understand that, as the bird is very hands on, but more to the point you feel the DC-3 in the way you fly it, well trimmed it is a nice aircraft to manoeuvre as long as you understand it's limitations and performance. Overall the aircraft is very addictive, in that fly it once then you just want to have another go and in that aspect VSkyLabs has got something very right here.

Wipers do work. There is no actual switch at the moment and so you have to press the centre of the wiper motor box to activate them, but they are great in poor weather...

The DC-3 is nice to manoeuvre when setting up for landing. "Hands on" is the thought that comes to mind, but you know you are in control.

Flaps are not stepped but continuous, so you have to hold the lever down all the time to drop them, but harder is that they can only be used at around or under 100mph, so you have to get down to that speed before using them... and it is harder than it sounds.

Once there you can then actually lower the flaps and then they provide their own drag to adjust your approach speed, so then it becomes a balance of flap drag vs throttle thrust to keep the approach correct. Stall is around 60mph so 80mph feels about right.

She will float very easily, but the trick is to use it and not fight it...

... you are very conscious of your tail. Even in light crosswinds the DC-3 can be very tail light and of course we have all seen the great footage of these taildraggers in real action in heavy winds, and then they are a real handful. But once you are over the threshold you have to learn to straighten up the tail by instinct before you put the aircraft down, so yes using the float point is a great benefit to you if you can get it right, so you hold, straighten then hold it tight and reduce the speed to meet the runway.

It took me a few landings to get it perfectly right, but then it just becomes a background natural instinct and feel.

Nightlighting

As to be expected the lighting on the DC-3 is basic.

External lighting is not adjusted, but it is effective. Note the high light on the tail.

Instrument panel lighting is not overly dramatic, but it is easy to use and t actually read at night and so in that case it is effective.

Taxiing at night is a pretty dark affair, but it does feel very authentic, the frosted old windows certainly help a lot to the atmosphere. Overall a bit more work is required here.

Liveries

As noted the only livery is provided is the Buffalo Airways which was created originally from "Flightgear Liveries" but with permission is now part of the project. And if you want to you can convert more for the aircraft from the Flightgear site. It took me about 20min to do about four... in a very nice Air Atlantique, BUA, CP Air and a Chilean Airforce livery.

They are (very) basic and there are sadly currently no Military C47 liveries in the list. There is a paintkit here on the X-Plane.Org. One livery for Lufthansa (below) has already appeared so there is no doubt this aircraft will attract a lot of painters.

It is in the liveries that others can help this project as to throw some serious talent at these liveries would certainly lift the already underlying good aircraft.

A final note that this review was completed with the v001.1 update that has a had a lot of changes since the release version. A few images in here were still from the original release version (mostly the reflective instruments). Any new purchase will download the v001.1 version, but if you haven't then do so as the update is significant. Another point is that I highly recommend both a twin-throttle system and the use of XPRealistic Pro by rk Apps effects as they both are a huge bonus in flying this aircraft.

Summary

To be clear what you are purchasing with this VSkyLabs DC-3/C47 aircraft is a project still in progress, an advanced one, but it is still far from the completed aircraft. There are no special features in menus or elements and the cabin is really also still not fully completed. This is also not a deep simulation in the way you would totally operate a DC-3 either, certainly not in the systems and in some areas the operation and the price which is set below US$20 does reflect that.

The liveries are also quite basic, but workable. The normal mapping is also basic (the textures that highlight pixels to make lines and grooves on the aircraft) and it is here that I think most visual improvements could be made. You want to see every rivet and panel in it's glory as these older aircraft are built that way, and this missing visual aspect is noticeable. Certainly X-Plane11 goes a long way in bringing up great lighting and saving an aircraft which could have be quite dull without it, so in X-Plane11's light the aircraft does look quite nice and interesting and it does show the potential of what can be yet added to this aircraft as the basics are excellent.

If you accept the above then you will take the aircraft to your heart. It is a great aircraft to use and fly, and very hard to ignore and even addictive, actually very addictive in the fact the more you fly the aircraft the more you want more of it. It can be tricky of course, but again all these sort of taildraggers are interesting machines... but that is all part of the fun as well.

So what you get here is a great deal, a great if even one of the really greatest aircraft of all time to fly and enjoy and I can guarantee you now there are already a lot of X-Plane pilots out there with a wide grin on their faces as they trundle around the slow moving landscape with a beating heart of happiness, not even money can provide that, so get with the project and be a part of the movement to thoroughly enjoy the ride along the way.

Highly Realistic Flight Performance DC-3/C-47 Simulation: Highly accurate performance and handling simulation of the DC-3/C-47. Aircraft performance and handling qualities were designed and tested in a "Research level" approach and went through a validation process of more than 200 hours of flight testing and evaluation, made by real world C-47 pilot and aircraft performance expert. This model is stretching X-Plane to its limits in terms of delivering the authentic flying characteristics of the DC-3/C-47

Fully equipped with Radio and Navigation aids: along with a full set of traditional/old school navigation and autopilot systems, it is also equipped with a pop-up G430

Workhorse for practicing DC-3/C-47 pilot skills: Experience authentic flight performance and handling practices (takeoff, landing, single engine operations, flight planning, long range flights and old school navigation). It is a perfect platform to recreate and fly historic routes using authentic performance simulation

Unique look and feel: The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 is a mixture of a simplified yet very engaging design and “feel” of the DC-3/C-47

Systems - easy to operate by beginners: All relevant systems are simulated but with the focus on getting the “Flying Lab” airborne without the need to go through a long “ground school”

FPS friendly

Designed to utilize the “out of the box” features of X-Plane

Additional Features:

Highly responsive support system/forum.

The VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 Flying Lab is a project under constant development. All updates are free.

Requirements

Minimum System Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 CPU with 2 or more cores, or AMD equivalent.

Shade Tree Micro Aviation (STMA) have upgraded their (de Havilland Canada) DHC-2 Beaver collection to X-Plane11. The DHC-2 Beaver is one of STMA's most successful aircraft, consistently updated and great to fly.

This upgrade also allows STMA to bring to the aircraft some of their newer features found on other aircraft in their range. These tools including the AutoUpdater (below left) and STMA Dock with the PreFlight Group with aircraft towing tug also now added to the aircraft.

New Additions include an update to the latest default GNS 430 GPS and the complementing modern Autopilot. A canoe is also now fitted to the floats.

As with any aircraft that is upgraded to X-Plane11, the flight model and engine thrust parameters have now been updated to work correctly in the different X-Plane11 environment. The Beaver flies very nicely in its new environment, but is still quite tricky on takeoff and landing.

Ground details

There is a nice selection of ground details with all the doors opening, chocks and tags, tiedowns, yoke/rudder pedal lock and menu controllable pushback truck.

Three types of Beaver are included with the Wheels, Ski and Float versions that all makes for a very versatile aircraft.

The "Float" version includes the float retractable undercarriage and the new canoe. The aircraft is easily manoeuvrable on the water as well.

Instrument panel is quite cluttered for a Beaver. The pilot gets all the flying instruments in the six standard flight instrumentsin the Artificial Horizon, Heading Indicator and the Airspeed, Altitude, Vertical Speed. Above the three levers on the DHC-2 iconic designed upper central panel are the Throttle, Propeller and Mixture and higher is a DME/ADF finder. Lower centre panel are two engine dials for Manifold Pressure and Prop RPM (in a pop up window as well) and with a mid- screen mounted compass. Mid-Panel are two gauges that cover engine Temperature Indicator, Oil Pressure Indicator and Fuel Pressure Indicator, lower panel is the three fuel gauges. Both yokes can be hidden or seen separately.

Avionics are basic but very usable on a bush aircraft. Small Comm panel is top, then below the new default GNS430 (pop-out). Autopilot panel is basic, lower Bendix/King transponder and two radios for NAV2/VOR2 and ADF.

Cabin is basic and very small.

Nice selection of ten liveries are all Alaskan or Canadian designs

Summary

Shade Tree Micro Aviation (STMA) have been around X-Plane for eons, and have a huge following in users that understand and love their certain style of aircraft. The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is one of the most iconic and versatile aircraft ever built and put together you have a great selection of aircraft to explore the Alaskan or Canadian back countries.

The upgrade to X-Plane11 is good with a few new features, but textures have not been upgraded or the PBR effects have not been tuned either and the panel resolution even set on high is not very good in this day and age and there is even some of the main instruments that are quite blurry? The lovely polished metal upper panel could have looked simply gorgeous, but that is again slightly blurry so the effect is lost.

No doubt that STMA is the best for flight modelling and most users purchase their aircraft for the flying and not really to look at the aircraft, and this DHC-2 Beaver is very good in that department.

Like most upgrades to X-Plane11 there is an upgrade cost for owners of the previous DHC-2 to this X-Plane11 version of $12.50. Look at your original invoice for the coupon code or send an email to sales@x-plane.org to qualify for the discount on the X-Plane.OrgStore.

So this is a nice from STMA upgrade for an old favorite and there is a lot if old style avionics to use, and the usual users will love the aircraft even more to fly it now in X-Plane11.

__________________________________________________________________

The DHC-2 Beaver by Shade Tree Micro Aviation is available from theX-Plane.Org Store here :

In late 2015 Mike Wilson released an update or in Hollywood speak a "Reboot" of an old favorite in his Boeing 707-320. It was in a nutshell the old aircraft with a 3d virtual cockpit installed and a few other tweeks. It was an interesting idea in just not letting the older design fade away, but to bring it back to life and be usable in your current X-Plane environment, and it worked... to a point. Then Mike Wilson did the same reboot to another old favorite in the Douglas DC-8 which was a very successful reimagining of that other famous aircraft from the 50/60's.

With the DC-8 series being well received then the attention went back on to the 707 to bring it up to the same level as that aircraft, most notably in the original X-Plane wings, really average engines and the spoilers/flaps being very disconnected from the wing when extended and the engineers station in being only a graphic and not a full 3d panel like the pilots instrument panel. Another focus was in bringing the fuselage up to more modern standards as well, all in all a more modern update overall to the aircraft and to fly in X-Plane11.

"It is a classic" and many aviators weep when you mention the golden age of 50/60's Jet airliners, these are totally beautiful aircraft in their element of being the real trendsetters and smashing the long distances and thus creating our global village we all take to easily for granted today.

Outward changes - Wings/Engines

The old version really required a new wing, and here it is...

The new wing is thankfully very good, but the overall effect is muted by using the old (really) old early X-Plane style metal low-res textures. X-Plane11 now has the new metalness effects that bring metal and chrome to life, so the wings look overall flat and dull. The same effect extends to the lower fuselage that is more mottled than with an aluminium feel, there is no X-Plane11 shinyness (glossy) effect overall on the aircraft either.

The unique trailing edge "Barn Doors" style flaps are really well done in animation and operation, but there are no outer flap tracks mechanism (links) on the inner extended flaps or the outboard inner flaps?...

... which is highly noticeable on approach, but they are not all as hanging out there as bad as they were on the original versions.

The leading edge spoilers are a huge step forward from the loose hanging original version, and there is the well done 707 animated cascade irregular slat inner to outer retraction effect as well.

The engines are uprated from the original's JT4A's to the newer lovely RR Conway 508 engines with flared noise suppressors these engine types are the difference for the -430 variant, wings are however the same as the -320

The engine modeling is well done, and with nice internal spinning fans, there is a lovely metalness effect is on the cowls which shows it can be done to great effect. All wings and engine supports have good flex in flight. Missing however is the HF antenna on the right wingtip that was unique to the -420 version.

Cockpit

The last original version introduced a 3d virtual cockpit for the 707, it still looks amazing and highly realistic. To note there is no passenger cabin and the 2d cockpit has been dropped.

The lighting effects of X-Plane11 certainly lift the panel experience and brings the detail to life, so you do have a great 707 cockpit to fly in.

Now added to the front of the aircraft in sheer detail, is now the engineer's station set behind.

There is no doubt that this engineer's station is were most of the attention for this aircraft has been focused on. It is highly detailed and very well done, but lot of the switchgear and buttons don't work, a la DC-8. This includes voltage, bleed valves, boost pumps and so on. But the startup procedure and fuel transfer panel in that the tanks are coupled to allow transfer between left, right and center tanks are well simulated as is the anti-ice system.

The multiple seven tank fuel capacity has also been fully simulated and you can set this via the X-Plane "Weight, Balance, & Fuel" menu.

Like the engineer's station the overhead panel has also been totally redone, and very nice it is. Numbers like on the DC-8 are still long and odd, but not as noticeable on the 707 overhead. Like everything else not everything works and is mostly for show, but it well done.

The Pedestal is still certainly a highlight, lovely in all that metallic mechanical design, and now more functional as well with speedbrake lever and flaps are actually selectable ( flaps only via arrows and not hand). Fuel valves work now as well to start and to shutdown the engines.

Lower radio and trim pedestal is now void of that nasty flat rudder trim graphic and is now a real 3d object, looks great as well. Radio panel is fully workable and the some numbers are still over large, but better... all modeled trim knobs and handles work.

Panel

As noted the panel is not changed much from the original version, but still very good.

Instruments consist of the Standard Six - Artificial Horizon (sometimes known as the attitude indicator) with built in pitch/turn indicator, Heading, Compass, Vertical Speed, Altimeter and Speed (in knots and Mach speed), added centre are the back up instruments of Radio Altitude, Altitude, Clock, Artificial Horizon and Altitude selector. The DME 2 - NAV 2 (distance) is also situated lower down right. The Co-Pilots set of instruments are very similar with just the Standard Six pack. Altitude dial tends to rotate slightly madly back and to on the ground?

Centre panel is dominated by the four rows of engine parameters. Pressure Ratio (RPM), N1, EXH (Exhaust) Temp, N2 (RPM) and Fuel flow to each engine. Flap position indicators (two) are to the right of the engine dials.

The top glareshield autopilot is basic (X-Plane) but fully functional and easy to use, It does not look as bad as it should do, and it is well intergrated into the cockpit.

A great new feature is the inclusion of the CIVA (Delco Carousel IV-A Inertial Navigation System. Nicknamed "CIVA") which is fitted directly into the pedestal of where it looks very good and is an extra addon that costs US$10. If you already own the CIVA plugin (FJS Boeing 727) then just directly cut and paste into the B707 plugin's folder in the aircraft's root folder.

The Delco navigation system was the most popular navigation system of this 1960's era and so a welcome addition into this cockpit. Standard X-Plane11 FMS is also installed and the aircraft is X-FMC (provided separately) is usable as well.

You have the option of having the crew annoy you or not...

A switch on the upper pedestal allows you to have two crew in a first officer and flight engineer, both are actually well done and would be a comfortable fit on a long flight. All three crew are seen outside the aircraft.

Lighting

Like on the FJS Boeing 727 you have a lot of lighting knobs, but not all work here...

You have great instrument lighting and the same on the flight engineer's panel. Two spot lights (map) over each of the pilots and a set of two overhead lights, there are red lighting dials (like on the FJS B727) but in here they doesn't work, which is shame.

But in daylight/twilight the cockpit is fine, but when it goes dark...

You get these horrible brown reflections on the cockpit windows, makes it all but impossible to land the aircraft in the dark?

This Boeing 707 does have the same flying quirk as the DC-8 in that any bank is a full 30º

Even at 28,500ft and m.78 your going to turn on a dime, god knows what sort of stress that puts the airframe under? But hey "Boeings are built to almost destruction!" is the boast.

All sounds are still the JERA sound system and are recorded from a real 707, and they sound excellent outside (certainly on takeoff) and from inside the cockpit at cruise.

The aircraft is just plain "dirty" It punks out crap that you would never believe... 60's style!

But you have to admit it looks magnificent on approach...

These old birds are hard work on approach, but that is part of the deal, you wouldn't want it any other way... the thrust to drag ratio to keep the aircraft correct on the finals is in all the skills you have acquired.

Those Conways throw out a lot of ghastly smoke in reverse, you don't need to look at the levers but out of the window as your world goes black all around you.

Landing lights don't have any graphic or modeling, just stuck on the leading edge of the wing.

You get three ground support vehicles in a GPU (Ground Power Unit), Stairs and Fuel truck 60's style, but the switch on the lower engineer's station is the wrong way round?

Liveries

There are six retro liveries in : Pan Am, BOAC, Air France, Varig, Seaboard World & Air India...

... but there was 35 liveries in all before and the selection has been culled to just six, missing is the excellent TWA and Vjet Qantas, ouch!

Certainly another big step forward from the first Boeing 707 makeover, and so you go to the next level here in detail with the cockpit now far more 3d virtual realistic than just flat pretty images covering the pedestal and engineer's station. But the Boeing 707 update is not as good as the DC-8 aircraft, although basically both are at the same level in detail now, the DC-8 is more involving and still more complete than the B707.

There is a big step forward here but the B707 still has to many bits that are not up to the level you expect in that it still feels like it is in development more than completed in the fact that flaps should not still hang in space but actually be connected to the aircraft's structure, the aircraft notes it is X-Plane11 but uses except for the engines and FMS very few of X-Plane11 features, certainly in metalness and textures.

Internal lighting is half completed and external lights are blobs on the wings or gear and those night reflection textures poor for night landings. Sounds are however very good.

I love these 60's era aircraft because of the challenge and sheer physical effort both mental and hands on to fly them, and this Boeing 707-430 is no different. Great additions for navigation with three choices as with the CIVA, XP11 FMS and X-FMC choices.

So in context a very nice upgrade, but not the another step up a level we expected over the DC-8 from Wilson's Aircraft. They are now level in detail, but the DC-8 flies better and has more features, I love the idea of updated old aircraft to be current in X-Plane with 3d virtual cockpits and modern textures and the B707 and DC-8 from Wilson's Aircraft show what can be done, so if you want a good 60's era aircraft and the Boeing 707 was the absolute trendsetter in this area then this is still the best Boeing 707 in X-Plane right now.

The de Havilland Canada company of Canada (DHC) had a huge success with their DHC-2 Beaver utility aircraft that was and still is the one of the greatest bush aircraft ever built. And so if you are on to a good thing then being an aircraft manufacturer is that what you usually do with the next aircraft is to build a bigger, faster and better one than the original success story.

This is the original DHC-2 Beaver (by Soul Made Simulations) and this is the size of the first aircraft and the blueprint for the larger DHC-3 Otter.

The design work on the "King Beaver" (the Otter's original name) began in January 1951, and it was noted as an aerial "One Ton Truck" to the Beavers "Half Ton Truck" capability. The new design incorporated a longer fuselage, greater-span wings, a cruciform tail, and it is much heavier. Seating in the main cabin is for 10 or 11 passengers, whereas the Beaver can seat six. Power is supplied by a 450-kW (600 hp) Pratt & Whitney-1340 geared radial. The new version used in the Otter was geared for lower propeller revolutions and consequently a lower airspeed, but flies the same speed as the Beaver. The electrical system was 28 volts D.C. and Like the Beaver, the Otter can be fitted with skis or floats. This Otter also served as the basis for the very successful Twin Otter which featured two wing-mounted Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprops.

The Otter received Canadian certification in November 1952 and entered production shortly thereafter. A total of 466 have been manufactured since.

RW Design's DHC-3 Otter

Design wise RW's aircraft is very good, certainly not in the Carenado class but then what other aircraft is in that class any way. You don't get the that extreme really fine, fine detailing here, but otherwise it is pretty well put together.

And that is highlighted by the great wasp 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine detailing, and its lovely 3-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller.

Exhaust Augmenter Tubes

Those huge two exhaust tubes on both sides of the fuselage are called "Exhaust Augmenter Tubes", which are located below the cockpit doors and are a special design feature of the DHC-3. In the exhaust augmenter tubes, the exhaust gases produce suction that is strong enough to pull cooling air around the engine and from behind the engine compartment while at the same time providing a measurable amount of thrust in cruising flight. The engine is thus effectively cooled during steep climbs when the forward air speed is low and the engine out-put near its maximum.

The exhaust tubes have been expertly modeled here, and are quite beautiful to look at (If you are into that sort of thing). The undercarriage and fuselage attachment points are also very nicely detailed.

A look into the cockpit and you instantly see the Otter's original Beaver heritage as the layout and the detailing are quite similar, with that huge crossover yoke dominating the panel.

The worn seating is good and well created, but not the really well worn, torn and dirty look you would expect from a working utility aircraft it feels to light. And I am not sure what the tiles are on the roof, canvas, rubber or metal... plastics were not a basic commodity in the early 50's, if at all it looks plastic. But I think it is to replicate a padded rooflining? The same effect is on the insides of the doors.

Cabin is also good, but a little basic. I like the cloth seating but there are no seatbelts to hold you down and I wouldn't want to fly seated on them for very long. At the rear is a netted cargo section with a selection of cargo (three crates).

Menus

There is a menu pop-up that works when you tap the file folder by the Co-Pilot's seat.

One is the main menu that covers:

External Power (no showing power unit)

Flashlight (needed)

Yoke (show/hide)

Jump Door

Heading Slave

Walk-around

There is an "Aircraft Visual Option" that shows: Chocks, Pitot Cover and a ladder.

All the doors open, with the two front cockpit doors, right side passenger door and left side double cargo doors. All the doors have to be opened internally which can take time moving around the cockpit and cabin to do all the handles... an easier door menu selection would have been nice?

Rear left cargo doors can be set two ways with the double doors in position, or "Jump Door" (or no doors).

The ladder option only works with the opened double-doors, and not with the "Jump Door" option.

Walk-around

There is a walk-around feature in that if you press the items on the menu car you are postioned at the point of inspection and with notes on the card of what to look for...

The action of pointing at the card does not actually point you at the item in question? so you have scroll your view to find the item you want to inspect, it works but not perfectly.

Panel

The panel by today's standards is very basic.

The Standard six instruments are all there just for the pilot. Top left is the Airspeed Indicator, with the Attitude Indicator or Artificial Horizon middle, right is the Vertical Speed Indicator with the Altimeter is lower left. Heading dial is basically compass style is centre with the Turn Coordinator lower right.

Bottom knee panel is from left with a electrical and engine starter panel, Fire panel, then a VOR2 OBS CDI (course deviation indicator) and a ADF pointer. far right on the panel is the tank selector with Front - Center - Rear tanks available.

Co-Pilot side you have one lower knee panel with the lighting, heating switches and volt dial.

The default X-Plane Garmin GNS 430 gps is positioned on the top of the panel and as per usual use pops-out.

This Otter looks like it is to reflect the more modern variant than the older earlier model, hence the more lighter paneling and design. There is scruff marks and general dirtying down of the aircraft, but it feels like it needs a lot more hard work and a through beating to make it more totally realistic. Note the beautiful DH rudder pedals (below).

Overall the design and work here is very good, but there are a few noticeable items that should have not passed the fine tuning stage... like the gap between the yoke handles and the yoke caps. There is a nice trim wheel down by the pilot, but it doesn't work? unless the autopilot is controlling the trim? So no trim adjustment is available including the yaw located up above the windscreen.

There is a very nice outside temperature gauge built into the roof...

... and an usual skylight built into the cabin ceiling, and you don't see one of them on the average Airbus.

Variants

There are three variants with the Otter package. The "Wheeled" version above, a "Ski" version and a "Float" version.

The different variants are well done, but they are all separate aircraft, and so you have to set your preferences on each aircraft separately.

The Float version has a retractable gear panel on the lower pedestal, the animation is very good and the float version looks very nice in flight.

Liveries

There are one blank and seven liveries and most registrations here are Canadian based.

Livery quality is very good, but not HD (High Definition) deep. The New Zealand VAS is a nice touch. All the liveries work on all the variants.

Flying the Otter!

Time to climb up on board and take the Otter for a ride. Starting that old radial wasp as you would expect is a bit of "How's your father" and a lot of praying. In short you need to set the electric pump to on, then a few pumps to prime the cylinders (more if cold) from the manual pump on the front of the pedestal, electric pump off again and then set the mixture to not so full rich and a bit of throttle....

Then a fingering of your rosary beads (I'm not a Catholic, but it still helps) and click the start switch, If god loves you on this day the radial will churn and fire into life and you will need to steady the idle once you get a few numbers on the needles. If god is not on your side then you will churn the motor forever and flood the pistons with too much fuel... So a cup of coffee is needed while it all settles down again and give it another churn in a while. Get a really bad day and just go and fly something else.

If the praying worked then you are in the flying business. Sounds are very waspy mechanical knockingly real, or very good, but not the total high quality sounds you can now get, but still very good considering how few of these aircraft are still around or in working condition.

The view out from the pilot's perspective is quite expansive compared to the tight cabin of the Beaver, but this is still a tail-dragger which means a sky high nose and a taxi by looking to the left and down. But the view is very good.

Engine warmed up and a better idle means you are ready to go.

For a tail-dragger the DHC-3 is nice to taxi (or it actually does go in the direction you want it to). You need the odd extra bit of throttle if you have a tighter corner to manoeuvre around or swinging around on the ramp, but this is par course for any tail-dragger anyway.

The Otter is a STOL aircraft which is short for "Short TakeOff & Landing". If you give the aircraft a fair bit of flap (half) it will leap into the air quite quickly, but a little flap is more controllable at slower speeds, but you still get airborne very quickly. The tail thankfully for the view forward pops up early and you are ready to fly at just over 100knts.

The aircraft will track quite well but lift the wheels off the ground and the DHC-3 will bank with the rotating engine thrust to the right quite suddenly and you have to catch it (only the first time as you are ready the next time).

This event may let you think the Otter is hard to fly, but in reality it is however completely the opposite, as it is very easy and very docile in your hands. A very nice aircraft to fly and it was tested by real life Otter pilots and I feel they got it exactly right.

Although there is no trim available (it is noted in the manual?) it does settle to a balance quite quickly, but you still wish for that manual adjustment.

You are not going to break the sound barrier in an Otter, with a maximum speed of 160 mph (139knots, 257km/h) and a cruise speed of only 121 mph (105knots,195km/h)... range is an amazing 945 mi (822 nmi, 1,520 km) and your ceiling is 18,000ft, so slow and high it is. In speed the Otter is the same as the Beaver, but it feels a little faster and more sprightly overall.

In the air the detailing is more highlighted than on the ground, and the aircraft looks very nice in the right light.

The autopilot is a change and stick type, or point it in the direction you want the aircraft to go and then select the heading to hold you on that course to get there. But the AP didn't exactly hold the heading as tight as I would want it to, I found I had to correct it often to keep the aircraft on course? Altitude can be changed with a Vertical Speed setting and a target altitude can be also set. The manipulators on the pop-up panel are not as exact or the same as the ones on the panel and they work slightly differently, but overall the panel is very good.

The big windscreen forward view is excellent and even bigger than the Beaver version.

At night it is dark in here. Panel lighting is certainly there, but I couldn't find the switches or adjustment? (not in the manual either). On the Beaver they are two large adjustment dials on the Co-Pilot's side, but they are absent here?

Externally it is also quite stark, with just the navigation lights.

You can tootle along up here for ages, the firing of the radial pistons banging away in the nose, and the slow movement of the scenery passing away below you.

My destination airport in Page Field (Ft Myers), Florida (KFMY) comes up on my right and so you reset your mind and enjoy the feeling of your hands on the controls again...

The DHC-3 is a very versatile and lively aircraft to control, docile and the low speed allows steep banking and you are easily into a quick turn back to the airport with a touch of the rudder to control the high wing lift..

Landing is cleared to Page Field's RWY 31. It is time to slow the speed right down and drop the flaps, but in doing so it is like hitting an invisible wall. The DHC-3 as a STOL aircraft was built and designed to land on very poor surfaced and short strips. This is what makes the Otter so versatile and attractive to bush pilots and the aircraft gives you access to airports and in some case just places with no runways but just a rough flat section of ground to deliver or service a community.

The flaps gear arrangement here is exquisite and really well designed, it is all well animated as well with great linkages to not only the flaps, but also the outer ailerons. The passengers have a great view of the flap animated action and the great detailing.

The Flap indicator is situated on lower center windscreen divider post. If you use a Saitek (nee Logitech) system it only gives you a continuous movement of flap travel, but there are instructions in the manual to give you the position notches if you need them (but I am not fussed there).

You approach the threshold at only just under a 100kts and easily then adjust down to 65knts.

The aircraft is so docile and stable you use the slight headwind like a seagull to hold your hover position and to look at the point you want to touch down as your speed drop to only 55knts...

... focusing on your landing point you just slowly descend and land right at the point you want too, easy and totally in control, it is these flying qualities made the Beaver and Otter the legends they are today.

With two wheels on the ground you are still in control and the drag will allow you to easily settle the tail without any braking or sudden movements. This landing was in a controlled hard surface setting, but the Otter would be just as at home anywhere really.

Brilliant!

Summary

In many ways the DHC-3 Otter from RW Design's is a total contradiction. It is in many, many areas exquisitely designed with beautiful features and has great details.

But in other areas the details are missing like the views and door actions in the menus, The lighting systems that I know do work, but there is no information on how to adjust or find the switches or knobs, and also the wheels that will rotate from one airport to another. There is such great design in here and yet there are gaps like on the yokes that you can see through while flying the aircraft. There are no pilot's from the outside views also and it looks quite odd without them, a sort of a freaky aircraft flying all on it's own feeling. The none working trim that is noted in the manual but didn't work in practise, and I am not sure of the bathroom tiling of the ceiling and doors. All small stuff but...

X-Plane today is now getting very demanding in the sheer photographic detailing it can now reproduce and this aircraft and with certainly the external detailing it does pass that level and test. This is also lower Carenado territory in value and price and so it also delivers at that level as well, but if you are looking for the sheer detail and the quality of the SoulMade Simulation Beaver style aircraft here then this Otter just not up to that extreme class or level... it is though very good.

The aircraft is at this point X-Plane11 compatible, but not a fully compliant X-Plane11 aircraft, in other words it flies and works fine in X-Plane11, but will be updated to the correct compliancy level when X-Plane11 is made into a full release version.

This is a classic aircraft, and very worthy of it's status. It flies very well and it is a great adventure aircraft. And pilot's who like this sort of rough strip or island hopping flying will absolutely love it.

After devouring FlyJSim's excellent Boeing 727 Series and Boeing 732 baby Boeing then your Classic 60's appetite for these incredible aircraft will still want feeding. You love the feel of aircraft from the Golden Age of Jet travel and one aircraft (well three actually with the Vickers VC10 and DC-8) represented the era with sheer dominance, these were the great years of global domination and speed without all that earth warming and noise pollution restrictions that we are well regulated with today. The FlyJSim B727 and B723 were only medium range machines, if you wanted to go global then you needed the Boeing 707.

You could go to church and pray hard that FlyJSim would create a Boeing 707, but otherwise there was only one good option in Mike Wilson's version of the B707 aircraft.

Now Mike Wilson has been around X-Plane as long as X-Plane itself, In fact he was one of the very first payware developers on the simulator, so let us say he is an old hand at this aircraft building game.

So I wanted a B707 and so as a birthday present exactly two years ago (yesterday the 8th Nov) I bought myself the Classic Aircraft (Mike Wilson) B707 to go 60's global. It was not bad, but the aircraft was only available as a 2D cockpit design and I will note up front that this aircraft is an old design with a few good nips and tucks over the years. But it was still a B707, I liked it, I flew it, but the aircraft felt old compared to more modern designs with fully functioning 3D cockpits, but every now and again I would pull the old bird out of the hanger and do a few sorties in it, good, but not the full simulation I really wanted.

So herald my surprise when a download was posted on the X-Plane.Org that a 3D cockpit had been created by Julien Brezel for my dear old venerable B707!... gotta have that one people...

3D Cockpit Upgrade

Putting my paws on a 3D B707 yoke for the first time was "Love this" and not bad a job it is either, it is certainly no FlyJSim and a lot of the areas in the cockpit are just flat graphic images, there is a engineer's seat but again that is just visual design and not a working panel either and there are a lot of basic X-Plane default instruments and switches... but, but... I simply love it.

Better is the 3D cockpit brings the Boeing 707 to life, makes it real and creates a good workable aircraft. The main important areas like the excellent four engined lever pedestal have been lovingly recreated by Julien Brezel, as have the great vintage yokes and the overall panel is very realistic.

The Pedestal is certainly a highlight, lovely in design, but not as functional as it looks, you can't select the flaps, or speedbrake selections and the fuel flow levers are on off by the buttons only. I have all these operations in flap change, speedbrake, throttle on my Saitek joystick and throttle, so I didn't miss anything, but it would be harder to use manually.

There is the same feel and look as the FJS B727 thankfully, but not the functionality, instruments are basic and so is the switch gear, but you will soon find yourself operating the aircraft as a pro, it works well... even in this minor capacity.

Instruments consist of the Standard Six - Artificial Horizon (sometimes known as the attitude indicator) with built in pitch/turn indicator, Heading, Compass, Vertical Speed, Altimeter and Speed (in knots and Mach speed), added centre are the back up instruments of Radio Altitude, Altitude, Clock, Artificial Horizon and Altitude selector. The DME 2 - NAV 2 (distance) is also situated lower down right. The Co-Pilots set of instruments are very similar with just the Standard Six pack.

Centre panel is dominated by the four rows of engine parameters. Pressure Ratio (RPM), N1, EXH (Exhaust) Temp, N2 (RPM) and Fuel flow to each engine". Flap position indicators (two) are to the right of the engine dials.

The top glareshield autopilot is basic (X-Plane) but functional and easy to use, It does not look as bad as it should do, and it is well intergrated.

FMC is standard X-Plane and uses your standard fms. files, it works but there is no red line to check if it is locked in?

Roof mounted switchgear is not completely realistic as it covers also for the blank engineers station, but it is still laid out quite well for use, not totally functional, you have what you need and nothing more.

You need your "texture resolution" set very high. In the usual mid-rage settings the cockpit text is very blurry and unreadable. I didn't need the "extreme" setting (here it is set to "very high") to get better usability and readability, and there is the huge bonus in the aircraft claiming almost no framerate penalty at all, X-Plane sees almost right through it, so with the "texture resolution" set at the top settings then framerates were still in the high 60's and 70's and at a few times even 100fr and it was as almost as the B707 didn't exist to my computers processing channels... nice.

It is nice in the 3D cockpit version at night, a dark yellowish glow gives the cockpit a 60's feel without the hallucinogenic effects of the period.

Turn down the overhead lighting, and the dials glow, but they are more misty than they really need to be and can be hard to read and making them more darker would create a more realistic feel, but the overhead panel looks very nice. Overall though it works and feels very good.

If you are still feeling nostalgic for the full X-Plane v9 version, then the original 2D cockpit is still in there, but looks very outdated now compared to the lovely newer 3D version.

External Boeing 707-320

First off before looking at the outside of the of the aircraft I will note a personal change.

The aircraft comes with very light (or whiter) main cockpit windows compared to the top and side windows... I personally didn't like that, as it looked "well odd" or even "awful"? So I fixed up the front windows to match the others, and I think it is a visual major improvement... to everyone's taste, and if you want the changed file it is located in the Install section of this review.

The aircraft is not going to win any design awards, but where there has been a lot of attention in the design's translation to X-Plane10, like the fuselage, tail and updated (livery) textures it is very good (even brilliant if you compare it to the original poor resolution textures), I particularly like the battered tail fin, and the detailing there. Wings have flex as well.

But the main comedown on the aircraft are the wings? For one they are so old they don't really match the rest of the aircraft. They feel v8 X-Plane and not the current v10 they should be...

Drop down the flaps and leading-edge devices and well?... It is not good let us just say that, and both the sets of front and rear edge aerodynamic devices are not even connected to the aircraft?

The undercarriage is not bad and is well detailed but the front gear is too fat, they also fold up through the fuselage and not into an open box.

Lighting are blobs of light on the aircraft X-Plane style but the wing navigation lights are not bad. There is very little detailing of this sort but the engine fans do rotate.

But the Boeing 707 does sound and smoke like it was from the unregulated 60's era. All sounds are the JERA sound system and are recorded from a real 707, and they sound excellent outside and inside the cockpit at cruise, the dirty smoke is heavy and brings a smile to your face.

The aircraft looks quite nice at night with the HDR lighting doing a nice job in illuminating the tail, I like the high porthole front door window.

Liveries

There is a huge selection of liveries from very good, to some average, the aircraft comes with Sara Air, Sudan, TWA (Mike's edit), Uganda Cargo, Air France, American, Lufthansa and Pan Am. White is default and there is a photoshop .psd paint kit in the package.

These are a few of the livery selections available, there is some great Retro versions and airlines that have gone to the great airport in the sky, and some need the odd touch up (mostly the glare paint around the front cockpit windows) to make them great. But the quality overall is very good... a note the earlier liveries don't work with the updated fuselage.

Summary

Like a lot of its real world 707 counterparts, the Mike Wilson Boeing 707-320 keeps on flying on. A constant small stream of updates and development has kept this bird in the air and here this has been the biggest and best update so far... a great 3D cockpit.

No doubt this aircraft will never be in the FlyJSim design or feature category, but that does not mean you won't love it, the style and feel of the this late 50's and 60's globe trending aircraft will still draw a crowd.

In the flight model, sounds it is very good, the real age of the design is only shown by the original wing and engine pod design in need of better graphics (better engine fans however have been added), and a future update with a better design in those areas would certainly benefit everyone.

But for now it is the best B707 in X-Plane, for myself, I flew the aircraft with the 3D Cockpit from LIRF Rome to LEVC Valencia and loved every single minute of it, this is still another great 60's aircraft and one that can cover global distances, yes that 3D cockpit makes a huge difference to the aircraft and it is certainly a fun place to be, overall the thought mostly in my mind was... "There is still a hell of a lot of life in this old Girl yet"... amen to that.

Well the PC (Politically Correct) Police have already stuffed up Christmas... sorry Festive Season (Happy Holidays is now so last year) and that it has got to us so much that the American's voted in Trump and us the English gave up completely on Europe or is that everything?

But back to Fun...

I take X-Plane quite seriously, too seriously I think that sometimes you just need to brighten up a little and let go. See the world from a different perspective, so how about this...

No it is not a photoshopped image but a completely inverted roll, or flying upside down.

This jolly of jolly's is possible because of the Extra 330SC or in the case of the aircraft's full name of "Extra Flugzeugbau EA330" that is an aerobatic aircraft that was designed in 1987 by Walter Extra, a distinguished German aerobatic pilot, and is built by Extra Flugzeugbau in Hünxe, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. And the Extra is the extraordinary World Champion Aerobatic Aircraft for 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016!

It is a powerful machine as well, with a fuel-injected Lycoming AEIO-580 pushing out 300 horsepower (224 kW) and giving the aircraft incredible torque and a top speed of 408 km/h (220 knots, 253 mph).

With all that power at your disposal then a full loop is a breeze, after a slight dive to build up speed...

Starting to have fun yet... because it is great fun, and liberating at the same time by the sheer joy of being unbound to the earth and doing aerobatic flying without the normal constraints of doing procedures and the more routine style of flying.

Cuban Eight, Hammerhead stall, Split S, Spin, tailslide, snap roll are all aerobatic maneuvers that this aircraft is built for and the "snap roll" is very, very good, it almost pulls your head off.

I am no aerobatic pilot, and will never profess to be one, but if you do want to learn aerobatics in X-Plane then this is in which the aircraft to do so. The 330SC has a symmetrical airfoil, mounted with a zero angle of incidence, and that provides equal performance in both upright and inverted flight in other words the Extra can fly just as well upside down as the right way up.

This Extra 330SC is done by Vertigo Design (Simon Fournier), and it is excellently modeled throughout. Basically aerobatic aircraft are just that in being very basic and extremely light, but immensely strong... and you get that feel here.

You get Mr Extra as well inside the cockpit and he is really well done and looks highly realistic.

It is an attractive aircraft this single-seater.

It looks quite standard on the outside, but the detailing on the interior is excellent and shows the complexity of the original design.

The aircraft is a welded steel tube spaceframe that is covered in aluminium and fabric. The mid-set wing has a carbon fiber composite spar and carbon composite skins.

That tubing spaceframe is highly complex, and has been really well recreated here. You can feel the inner and outer construction of the aircraft and the webbing of the inner steel cage around you. Note the excellent sliding rudder pedals and the fine details of the side panel instructions set out on a perspex panel

The main panel in front of you is divided into upper and lower panels, with the upper panel focusing on the main instruments including:

Lower panel has a row of fuses then... down the left in a row your left, central and right fuel tanks. Com2, cylinders temperature and Oil pressure/temperature is top row.

Gmeter and chronometer are on the second row and an amp gauge is on the third row. All instruments are modern and very well selected.

Four switches are for the alternator and master switch. Then you can choose to have the pilot to show or hide, but he only disappears inside the aircraft and is still visible externally, which is odd? Final switch is "white" smoke if you want to show off your moves during a display, but it is only the X-Plane smoke on or off.

Very top of the panel is a large digital readout for Speed (knt/km/h) and altitude (meter/ft). This feature item is only shown when the pilot is hidden, and this also shows your speed and altitude on the edge of the wings near the wing’s triangle. This feature is very useful during your maneuvers in X-Plane because you don’t feel the speed and you can’t look at your wing and follow your speed or altimeter at the same time.

There is a pop-out GNS430 that is handy and the throttle design and action is excellent.

Mr Extra like we mentioned is very good, and his movements with the stick, throttle are well animated.

His body is animated as well...

Move the stick left or right to move those excellent control surfaces and his head moves from left to right as well, and head also movements for the up and down to the forward or rear pulling of the stick. In flight his all movements look very authentic.

Being an aerobatic aircraft the control surfaces have a lot of movement, and so you have to adjust when flying to the small inputs and smoothness in not to over maneuver the aircraft. Settings for X-Planes augmentation is at 100%, and the response is set at 0% for the most realistic flying.

Note the way the tailwheel is cleverly connected to the rudder and that the tube-frame is left exposed at the rear, it would have been just to easy to have filled it in, and that is great detail. Only one small but mostly hidden aspect are the main front wheels are not round, round but a bit rough in the 3d.

This Extra is fast...

This aircraft is blindingly fast, you don't takeoff, but more hurtle down the runway and into the air. 250knts is a starting speed once airborne!

And like some demented wasp you can buzz the tower and be gone long before the controllers have any chance of reporting you to the authorities.

Very tight angle banks into runways are a breeze, but your view ahead is quite restricted in finding the runway. So you will need to get your "field of View" setting correct.

The biggest issue is slowing down, as there are no flaps or anything to wipe off the speed...

... the aircraft is light and will flare forever if you let it, careful on the brakes as well in case you over-end the aircraft on it's nose, the speed will come down, but pick a long runway. A note is in not to use the non-existent airbrakes, it just opens the canopy!

Liveries

There are four liveries in two French and two German aerobatic colours. All are of great quality, but it is a shame there is no Red bull.

Summary

The Extra 330SC is certainly built for a specific purpose and that is for aerobatic flight. And this X-Plane version is created and tuned for that specific role, but it delivers and it is certainly the best aerobatic aircraft in X-Plane.

Design and aircraft build from Vertigo Design is all round excellent, but there are not a lot of special features but just a very good well built aircraft that flies extremely well, and even real Red Bull pilots use it for training so it must be correct in it's feel and execution of flight and aerobatic maneuvers.

So that pretty well sums up the Extra 330SC, fast, light and hugely manoeuvrable and perfect for practising aerobatics to your heart's content... and it is a lot of fun as well!

______________________________________________________________

Yes! the Extra 330SC by Vertigo Design is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

Motorised gliders make the hard part the easy part... that is just getting up into the air. And once up there it is nice to be able to position yourself quickly at the right point to collect the full potential of those lifting updrafts. So you don't then have to rely on a puller plane to get you up in the air, and if you get bored you can easily power up and head on home. The disadvantages are of course the weight you have to carry around with you, it is not a pure gliding experience par excellence, but in reality the disadvantages outweigh the purity of the sport as this versatility makes the aircraft easier to run, use and fly without any outside assistance and it is those set of conditions that have made the Fournier RF Motorglider a very popular aircraft.

These aircraft are known as "Touring Motor Gliders" for the obvious reasons, but there are different ideas to do the same thing. Most of these lightweight powered gliders have only a small puller or pusher engine, either mechanical or electric. Where as the Fournier is different is that the engine is quite large and very powerful for the size and weight of the airframe. The B version here uses the 50.7 kW (68 hp) Limbach SL 1700 E Comet engine, and that makes it a true touring aircraft that just happens to good at gliding and be semi-aerobatic as well.

Built by René Fournier in the central French area of Nitray , near Tours. The famous RF aircraft was the first of what we now call Touring Motor Gliders. The Frenchman already had an outstanding pedigree as René Fournier as he was already a recognized artist in the early 1950s, an amateur pilot, aircraft mechanic at the patented School of Rochefort, he was also poet, a violinist and especially a ceramist. He also was already highly involved in creating sailplanes and the early prototypes of the RF-5B carried small motors.

Fournier RF-5B by Avia71

Gliders are rare in X-Plane, maybe one a year. And so when a new one comes along if you are albatross minded it is usually worth a look.

This aircraft is a replica of the developer's personal aircraft, which was uncovered in an old hangar and restored back to flight. This is the "Lady Wander" (N99098) and the aircraft first flew in in 1971.

Design wise it is basic, but well done. Remember the aircraft is not from a fully developed design studio, but one person's personal project to bring the aircraft to life in X-Plane. So detailing is minimal, but the aircraft is plugin based and not a Plane Maker design and that means it does have some quality above the standard issue basic X-Plane structures with good features.

The forward panel is basic but well laid out on a cork or rough hardboard base. Four large major instruments dominate with the airspeed, VOR fix, altitude and the smaller rate of climb instruments. An amp meter is left with oil pressure and temperature gauges next. An engine RPM counter is next to the well calibrated artificial horizon, which is different but effective in its grey/black background. Airbrake indicator (0 - 1/2 - Full) and slip bubble indicator. Right panel are lighting and ignition switches with push pull choke, Fuel cutoff and Carb heat knobs below. A large compass is on the top of the panel.

Below the panel is the Starter (engine) Brake and the huge handle to control the variable pitch on the propeller. This lever is important to convert from the powered flight to flattening the pitch for glider flight.

On the central lower panel there is a Radio set which is an unusual unit because it is COMM (1) and NAV (VOR2) setting (usually it is Comm 1 and NAV - VOR 1) and set below is both a Davtron Chronometer and TRIG Transponder.

Left side is the (small) throttle, and on the right a pitch trim lever, right down under seat is the airbrake lever.

Being a two-seater the Fournier does have instruments in the rear as well, but only the basic airspeed, altitude and rate of climb instruments... oh and the second set of a stick and rudder controls to fly the aircraft.

By pressing either side of the compass you can pop-up either the X-Plane GNS430 or an earlier basic Bendix/King unit.

There are two options in a fully opening (animated) canopy or a twin open seat arrangement with small screens. An optional animated pilot who seems to be on a Sunday afternoon fashion posing outing can be switched in or out.

Seats are basic but in a well done leather covering.

Flying the Fournier RF-5B

The aircraft looks very fragile sitting on the glass or hard runway surfaces. A single wheel (glider style) supports the aircraft and the wings are supported by single stick like none retractable support wheels.

The Limbach engine is quite throaty and powerful as you increase the throttle and surprisingly in a low wind the Fournier is very stable on the takeoff roll. Around 40mph (35 knts) the tail will lift as you gather more speed and rotation is around 55mph (48knts) with a slight back pull of the stick.

It helps to internalise that large support wheel straight away to quickly clean up the airflow around the aircraft, but you do have a fair bit of power at your disposal. The Fournier will climb quite easily but you will need to find the right balance between the power (speed) staying static and your best rate of climb, i found it was around 700fpm which is very good, but 500fpm does give you more space to go faster as you climb.

Once at your desired altitude the 360º view is very good, but you will need to adjust something before you get too relaxed.

Twiddling with the small trim lever will balance out your rate of climb and steady the aircraft, it is a little fiddly to get it right, but the aircraft is much more stable when you get the right setting and easier to fly over a distance. The only other force is the power from the propeller that gives you a slight yaw that you have to correct with the rudder pedals.

Powered to Glider flight

Once you have reached your altitude and position, you will want to go to glider mode. You stop the engine by pulling out the "Fuel Switch off" knob and then you wait until the propeller has spun down.

Then you feather the prop via that propeller pitch handle to lock it into a horizontal position, and you can now go soaring...

... don't however just pull the handle across without shutting the engine first and letting it spin down, as the consequences of that action will mean you will blow up the engine and have a smoke filled cockpit.

Restarting powered flight requires a bit more effort. Because the engine is not running and has become cold and so you will usually get the "Carb Ice" notice and the engine is now too cold or frozen to restart. So you first have to pull out the "Carb Heat" knob and when the notice disappears can you then push in the fuel shutoff, then release the propeller from the horizontal position and finally hit the left lower side starter button. The engine won't start straight off, but you will need a little throttle (not too much to flood it) and then it will fire back into life.

With the Fournier being a well balanced Glider (correct trim important) then the aircraft is very light and easy to fly. It can turn on a dime as they say, but it is very easy to position and slips down easy for approach.

The airbrake lever is positioned on the floor and you pull it up (two settings available) as noted on the panel. Note the built in checklist.

Those two stage airbrakes come in like throwing an anchor out of the cockpit. So you have to be aware of the sudden speed drop and to not create a bad stall.

In the air we can get a better look at that big single landing wheel.

The single wheel with a safety guard is very well modeled and animated.

Excuse the pun but you sort of glide in to a stable landing at around 40mph (35knts) landing speed, use the airbrakes wisely unless they will catch you out if you are going to use them close to the ground, I found a quick up and down of the lever adjusted the speed for touch down.

The Fournier is quite stable back on the ground with those out set training wheels, there is none of this sudden twist when you have to put a wing down on the grass to stop, like you do in a normal glider.

A gentle touch of the brakes when you have run off a little of the speed will bring the Fournier to a stop and it is of course a little faster stopping on grass. Taxiing is no problem with easy manoeuvrability just like any other taildragger.

Menu

You can access a pop-up menu by pressing the (71) tag in the lower left screen.

The simple menu covers "Field of View". There are eight spot points of view that are good except for the two outer views which note the view towards the aircraft, but actually face forward?

Covered or open cockpit, Show pilot or an empty aircraft and the radio set view behind the control stick. And if you select the clickboard image it shows a forward view above the compass?

Liveries

There are eight liveries including a blank white. All are quite bland, and more livery detail and depth would have helped in bringing the aircraft to life more as the 3d modeling is quite good, and there is quite a wasted good selection of great real life liveries available for this aircraft on the web

Lighting

I don't think the Fournier can be flown at night as the panel is completely dark and the instruments are not very visible or even recognisable, externally it is also standard navigation lights, wing strobes and a single large landing light.

Performance

Wing Span : 55ft 10in (17.02m)

Empty Weight : 1,014lb (460kg)

Gross Weight : 1,499lb (680kg)

Max Cruise Speed : 118mph (190km/h)

Economy Cruise : (75mph) (120km/h)

Stall Speed : 42.5mph (68km/h)

Service Ceiling : 18,050ft (5,500m)

Engine : 68hp Limbach SL 1700 E

Summary

Internally and in flying performance the Fournier RF-5B is very good, but the average skin of the aircraft and liveries lets down a far better aircraft sitting underneath. Real RF-5B's have more detail as you can see the wooden slats and wing frames under the canvas, were as here the wings are mostly plain on both sides. There is slight evidence of this canvas on frame but not enough to give the aircraft life or a realistic look. X-Plane is now in the world of hyper-realistic quality modeling and textures, and you notice that here.

The effects and design are good inside the cockpit, and it is really great and easy to fly and convert from powered flight to soaring flight and back again.

If you want a a great motor glider and there is certainly a lot of versatility and even a lot of fun built into this great classic French aircraft, then you will love this clever machine from a very clever Frenchman.